By McGeorge Mbare
STRUGGLING Vhembe Stars Academy secured a 2-0 victory over Gwanda Pirates in the Central Region Soccer League Division One Matchday 25 at Ronnie’s Sports Arena on Saturday.
The match began brightly, with both teams threatening each other’s goal, although neither side managed to create a clear-cut opportunity in the opening five minutes.
Vhembe Stars Academy’s Marshall Nhira broke the deadlock in the 6th minute, heading home a brilliant cross from Moris Toyito Musamba on the right flank.
Gwanda Pirates forward Jordan Muparaganda attempted to respond, but his effort was comfortably gathered by goalkeeper Kelvin Masukuta, who was determined to keep a clean sheet.
The two sides continued to battle until half-time, with Vhembe Stars Academy holding a 1-0 lead.
After the restart, Gwanda Pirates replaced Simon Malupande with Malvin Dhliwayo.
A few minutes later, Vhembe Stars Academy introduced Themba Bajila and Thabo Mpande in place of Bennett Sithole and Denzel Tadyanemandu.
Both sides continued to put each other under intense pressure as the match grew increasingly physical.
In the 84th minute, substitute Nigel Sande was fouled by Langton Sithole, who was shown a second yellow card and subsequently sent off.
Vhembe Stars Academy then found their second goal through Mpande, who capitalised on a mistake by Gwanda Pirates goalkeeper Themba Moyo to seal a convincing 2-0 victory.
Three minutes later, Bajila was fouled by Moyo about 30 yards from goal.
The goalkeeper received his second yellow card of the match, resulting in Gwanda Pirates’ second red card.
The dramatic incident caused protests, with some Gwanda Pirates supporters throwing alcohol bottles towards the assistant referee.
The victory took Vhembe Stars Academy to 28 points, one point behind MSU, who suffered a 3-2 defeat to Matobo FC.
Speaking after the match, Gwanda Pirates fitness coach Manuel Nkomo expressed frustration over the defeat and the referee’s decisions.
“We conceded early, in the sixth minute, and then made mistakes in the second half that resulted in a red card. We went down to 10 men and later received another red card. This is a game of football and a game of opinions, but I can also say that the officiating was very poor from the beginning,” Nkomo said.
Vhembe Stars Academy coach Stanley Ncube praised his players for their hard work.
” everyone is working hard. You can see that we are not conceding goals. The players are performing well, and the determination and hunger are now there,” Ncube said.
Gwanda Pirates captain Themba Moyo was also critical of the officiating.
“The game was okay, but the referees killed our match. It appeared as though they had taken sides and were favouring one team. Some of their decisions were poor and showed favouritism,” Moyo said.