Huge sigh of relief for Mangwiro

TAURAI Mangwiro heaved a huge sigh of relief after helping Harare City end a four-game winless run by handing Benjani Mwaruwari his first defeat in the Castle Lager Premiership.

The Sunshine Boys beat Ngezi Platinum Stars 1-0 at Baobab.

Emmanuel Mandiranga’s 62th minute strike sealed the contest for the visitors.

City had managed just two points, out of a possible 12, in their past four league fixtures.

They had also last won on the road when they edged Bulawayo Chiefs 2-1 at Luveve.

It was Madamburo’s second home defeat of the season, having recorded their first when they lost 0-2 against Chicken Inn.

“We are delighted to have won a fiercely-fought encounter, the hosts gave as much as they got,” said Mangwiro.

“The boys did well to manage the game. “I wouldn’t say we were under pressure, we had drawn our last two games, and I was encouraging the boys to look at the brighter side of things.

“We had shown some signs of improvement, it’s there for everyone to see, we had managed to keep a clean sheet in our previous game against Black Rhinos.

“We were on the right track and it’s good that we followed that up with a resilient performance and got another clean sheet.”

He said a lot still needs to be done to improve the team.

“A lot of work still needs to be done, we don’t need to get carried away and there are no easy games,” he said.

“If you look at how competitive the weekend fixtures have been, then you can testify it won’t be easy for us.

“We are happy to have won on the road and if we can manage a follow-up, with another victory, in our next fixture against Manica Diamonds at home, it would be good.

“It’s not an easy task, Manica have been doing better than us this season, it means we have to be at our best to salvage something.”

Mangwiro insisted the cutting edge remains a concern.

“We have had challenges with inconsistent performances, we have been creating good chances but somehow we are failing to do justice even in today’s game,” he added.

Harare City have won three games, drawn six and lost four times.

They sit in the relegation zone.

Ngezi Platinum Stars are now nine points adrift of pace setters Dynamos, who are calling the shots with 29 points.

Benjani and his men will travel to Sakubva to face Tenax in their next assignment.