Chibuku glory for Mutare
l‘Homeboys’ savour Super Cup sweetness
EVEN as there was no team resident in Mutare participating in the Chibuku Super Cup final played in Triangle last weekend - never mind that one from this land has just got promoted and another demoted from the Premiership - we still had ample representation in the competition.
Even as 346 kilometers stand between the diamond-mining city and the sugarcane-growing town, we still had able representation in the tournament.
Even as the setting was the Lowveld, three of our own boys from here the Eastern Highlands were riding high among the protagonists.
For the trio of Mutare-bred - Phineas Bamusi, Pasca Manhanga and Anelka Chivandire - earned their stripes in ensuring that Triangle Football Club become the first team from the Eastern region to be crowned Chibuku Super Cup champions. Triangle last Saturday defeated Harare City 2-0 in the country’s premier knockout tournament at Gibbo.
In picking up gold in that glorious podium finish to the 2018 season, Bamusi put in a match-winning performance while the two other sons from Manicaland also substituted each other as they pushed their team’s cause.
And these homeboys, no doubt, are savouring this Super Cup sweetness.
While the Sugar Boys were reveling in their triumph it was all the sweeter for Bamusi, Manhanga and Chivandire, with each cherishing one of the finest moments in their respective careers. While this was not the first winner’s medal for Bamusi, scoring the decisive second goal that effectively secured the trophy is a moment to treasure.
That he was the best player on the field on the day is a sweetener. Even the winning coach Taurai Mangwiro, under whom the diminutive midfield dynamite played at Harare City, saluted the lively winger’s “fine performance” as he purred over his starring role on the afternoon.
Stung by the pain of losing at the same stage of the same competition to the same opponent as last Saturday’s last year, Manhanga finally took the next step. The pint-sized midfielder was turning out for How Mine, who were on the receiving end in the 2017 Chibuku Super Cup final, and must have got his sweet revenge this time around.
For Chivandire, fruitfully, this is a rewarding trajectory in his budding senior career. After signing for Triangle from The Africa Trust at the start of the season, the former La Sakubva player can gleefully look back at this turn as a career-defining moment.
The ex-St Mathias pupil continues to push for regular involvement in the squad.
With their Top 4 finish dream which Triangle are presently pursing vigourously - still alive, the Chibuku Super Cup comes as no scant consolation as it carries a handsome $75 000 pursue.
Over and above all, another ‘super’ additive to the trophy for Triangle is that their victory presents them with a chance to represent the country in Africa as Caf Confederation Cup participants, which prospect of playing in the continental competition for the first time in the club’s history they should surely be relishing.
Kudos, homeboys, and all the best in your future endeavours! Here’s to the Warriors . . .
As we are celebrating our homeboys’ Super Cup glory we, here at Footy Footnotes, are lifting our Chibuku glasses in preparation to toast to the Warriors’ qualification for the 2019 Total Africa Cup of Nations as they square off against Liberia away in Monrovia on Sunday.
Goals, Warriors, Goals!
Go, Warriors, Go!
If it is about football that you care, let’s share the cheer because we are made for the game, mad about the game!
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