By Sports writer
Telone 0-1 Green Fuel
TELONE’s poor home record slumped to a new low after they lost 1-0 to struggling Green Fuel in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Bata stadium on Wednesday.
The WiFi boys were egregious for their lack of potency in front of goals all afternoon as they failed to put away clear cut chances that came their way.
Substitute Kudzai Jaison had the ignominy of missing a late penalty after his effort was pummelled to safety by Green Fuel goalie Tendai Chirara.
The visitors had taken an early lead through seasoned striker Donald Ngoma who took advantage of poor marking in the hosts’ box to give Boys dzenharo the lead.
Having trailed for much of the game, Telone struggled to mount a comeback as their forwards conspired to miss.
But with six minutes of play left, the WiFi boys were given a lifeline by referee Allan Basvi who awarded a penalty to the home team for a foul on striker Blessing Sibanda inside the box.
However, Kudzai failed to utilize the opportunity missing his penalty.
After the match, Telone coach Hebert Maruwa chose not to focus on the penalty miss but his strikers’ lethargy in front of goals.
“We created a lot of chances in the first half as well as the second. We had a lot of chances but failed to convert. We really needed to win against these candidates in the relegation but it was not to be, we have to go back to the drawing board,” he said.
Maruwa made two changes to the side that won a point away to Manica Diamonds on Sunday. He gave a starting berth to striker Aubrey Nyandoro and Fradreck Muza dropping Tafadzwa Sibanda and Thabiso Matshazi.
He said his decision was a combination of both the search for a winning formula and rotating his squad.
“It was all about squad rotation at the same time we are trying to find a winning formula. If you saw we started with a 3-5-2, then changed to a 4-4-2 as we tried to get an equaliser,” Maruwa highlighted before expressing his worry at the team’s continued struggles.
“I am a bit worried, we needed to beat them to make sure we are above them. We still have 15 matches to go and we will survive.”
The WiFi boys remain in 15th position on 19 points three points adrift of ZPC Kariba who occupy the last safety spot.
Green Fuel assistant coach Taurai Mangwiro heaped praises on goalkeeper Tendai Chirara who kept them in the match with the penalty save.
“The goalkeeper did well to save that penalty and we are happy we survived that late scare,” he said.
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