Bruce Chikuni in Mhondoro
BLACK Rhinos confirmed their spot in the first round of the Chibuku Super Cup at the cost of Sheasham through a penalty shootout in one of the two preliminary round matches at Boabab stadium Wednesday.
This match ended 0-0 in regulation time, a second successive goalless draw between the sides following a similar result in the Castle Lager Premiership.
But, Chauya Chipembere secured their slot in the first round of the country’s flagship knockout competition with a 4-3 win in the lottery.
Black Rhinos will now meet Manica Diamonds this weekend at Gibbo stadium in the first round.
The first scoring chance of the game fell on Black Rhino’s striker, Evans Katema at the stroke of half-time but his overhead kick failed to hit the target.
Sheasham kept chasing the shadows of the military side after the restart but Saul Chaminuka’s offensive unit lacked precision in key moments.
Daren Mutimuzunze almost broke the deadlock with a brilliantly struck freekick from his own half only to be denied by the cross bar.
Black Rhinos coach, Chaminuka, was thrilled with the result while expressing concern over his misfiring strikers.
“It’s good that we have won and scoring goals remain our main challenge.
“We could have won the game in the regulation time but we missed good chances to bury the game despite creating great scoring chances.
“We scored more goals than our opponents to win this game and I think it also gave us a reason to believe that we can do well in this tournament,” said Chaminuka.
His counterpart, Lizwe Sweswe, said this was a reality check for his men who are enjoying a resurgent form in the Castle Lager Premiership.
“I think the boys did well but it wasn’t our day and it also exposes some of the areas which we need to work on for us to be more competent.
“We are a good side and I can’t really blame the boys for losing in the manner that we did but the reality is we still have a lot of work to do.
“We really need to start believing more than before and we need to instill a big boy mentality to these boys for them to start believing,” said Sweswe.