Tadious Manyepo
THE Herentals family is still in mourning.
Players wore black armbands and waved t-shirts bearing the name of their fallen fan, Elrose Garawaziva, in their 2-1 league victory over Black Rhinos at Mandava on Saturday.
Garawaziva perished in an accident when a Herentals bus carrying team supporters was involved in an accident on the way to Kariba where the Students were to play ZPC Kariba last week.
Garawaziva (15) was buried last week in Chinhoyi with Herentals players and staff from their Premiership, First Division, Second Division and Women’s Super League teams in attendance.
And on Saturday, the Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva charges turned on the power against basement side Black Rhinos to take their points’ tally to 35, 10 behind leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars.
They grabbed the goals through Edgar Mhungu and Stanley Murove with man-of-the-match Tino Benza providing both assists.
And when they scored, they hoisted the t-shirts bearing the deceased young girl’s name with the young Benza breaking down after the match.
“This win is for her,” said Tino.
“As a football family, we often travel in numbers just like what we did last week.
“Unfortunately, one of the buses carrying our supporters had an accident that claimed one of the family’s flowers.
“As a team, we were emotionally down after we heard that Elrose (Garawaziva) had lost her life while some of the supporters were injured.
“We lost that match, but honestly we were not ourselves. Everyone in the field was shaking their head. It was traumatising. But I am not trying to give an excuse for that defeat.
“When we buried her in Chinhoyi, we all agreed that we need to dedicate the match against Black Rhinos to her. We needed to win this match for her.”
Defender Prince Chama said Herentals should win some silverware this season for the fallen young fan.
“Life is not fair at times. The girl was so passionate about the game,” said Chama.
“As Herentals, we are saddened by what happened.
“We have won this match against Black Rhinos and we dedicate the victory to her. But we certainly need to win a trophy this season. That will be a befitting honour.”
Herentals still have a mathematical chance to win the league title, and in a race that has been characterised by twists and turns, they stand a good chance provided they are consistent.
They are also still in the Chibuku Super Cup race and face Ngezi Platinum in the quarter finals scheduled in two weeks’ time.