Nedbank………….. (0)1
CABS…………… (2) 4
Reigning FSSL champions CABS handed league debutants Nedbank their third loss of the season in a match the away team clearly dominated and deserved to win. CABS’s first goal came at the quarter-hour mark when Marvin Joe Vuma sold the Nedbank defence a clever dummy after a cross from the right, but the effort crashed against the crossbar. Vuma reacted quickly and connected the rebound from close range to give CABS an early lead. Shortly thereafter a point blank shot by Misheck Nyakanyanga was saved by Nedbank goalkeeper Dave Mutyavaviri at the end of a cross by Marvin Joe Vuma who had made a spirited run on the left flank.
CABS had a chance to double the lead but the shot at goal crashed against the underside of the crossbar and rolled back into play but there were no takers. Christopher Jimu then made it 2-0 in favour of the visiting team on 28 minutes.
Marvellous Muchenu continued CABS’ tale of missed chances when he broke free in the left channel, only to shoot straight at Mutyavaviri, after being fed by Christopher Jimu. Richmind Sibanda’s free kick was then blocked by the Nedbank wall after the home team’s captain Tafadzwa Mujombi had committed a foul.
Shortly after the restart, CABS captain Dumisani Vuma made way for Mandlenkosi Mapondera and handed over the armband to Marvin Joe Vuma. Nedbank came back from the oranges a rejuvenated side and piled a lot of pressure on the CABS defence, resulting in Liberty Mvududu scoring in the 53rd minute after combining well with Thinkwell Chikanyau. Within two minutes of Nedbank’s goal, Marvin Joe Vuma burst the home team’s bubble and scored his second of the afternoon to treble CABS’ advantage on 55 minutes.
In an effort to rescue the game, Nedbank made a double substitution and brought in Casbert Mataure and Takura Gunzvenzve for Tapiwa Mudzinganyama and Tonderai Musasa. This however did not improve the home team’s fortunes. CABS also made changes of their own which saw Nichodemus Nyandoro coming in for Christopher Jim while Obey Godknows Rusero replaced Marvellous Muchenu, who did not have a good day in the office by his own lofty standards. After these changes, both teams had chances to score but these went begging. Misheck Nyakanyanga could have scored CABS’s fourth goal but instead of shooting at goal, he opted to pass the ball to Marvin Joe Vuma who shot wide. On the other end, a ferocious free kick by Nedbank goalkeeper Dave Mutyavaviri was tipped over the bar for a corner.
Marvin Joe Vuma completed his hat-trick on 77 minutes to cap a fine afternoon for him and kill the match as a contest. CABS could have made it 5-1 but Ngonidzashe Fero skied his effort from the penalty spot.
Asked to comment on their maiden run in the league so far, Nedbank chairman Tapiwa Mushure said they were grateful for the opportunity for their staff to loosen up by playing soccer. He said staff commitment however continued to be a challenge so they had to complement their playing personnel with non-staff members, although finding the right external players was also a challenge. Nedbank coach Victor Dongo attributed the heavy loss to the fact that he did not field his strongest team as some of his key players pitched up without the identification particulars necessary for vetting.
Dongo felt that Richmind Sibanda played well and was a constant threat with his intelligent play and as if to confirm this, Sibanda wore the armband for the last few minutes of the game. The CABS coaching staff felt that Mutyavaviri had done well in goals for Nedbank.
Blessing Tauro, a Class 1 Referee, handled the match, and was assisted by Rueben Machira.
Meanwhile, in related news, Tawanda Mumbengegwi of FBC Moola urged supporters to be more civil at matches.
“Through your office, we kindly appeal to clubs to continue educating all our supporters to remain honourable and desist from unsportsmanlike conduct. We all enjoy the interactions, work related or otherwise and relationships borne out of these games and it would be unfortunate for a few bad apples to soil the good names of respective teams. These are social games and I believe all jokes and teasing is in the spirit of support and therefore there is no need to take light-hearted banter beyond what it is,” said Mumbengegwi in correspondence seen by MFSB Sport, which was addressed to the Fixtures Secretary.
Stanchart midfielder Mubaiwa Mubayiwa also weighed on behaviour on the field of play.
“Some of the tackles are also becoming too aggressive. The quality of referees is unfortunately not improving yet they need to instil the discipline by giving appropriate cards. This should be managed before we have serious injuries,” said Mubayiwa, who is the Head of Stanchart’s Commercial Banking Operations in Southern Africa. ©MFSB Sport
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| Position | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | PTS |
| 1 | Old Mutual | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 6 | 33 | 27 |
| 2 | ZB Bank | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 6 | 47 | 24 |
| 3 | CABS | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 11 | 28 | 22 |
| 4 | FBC Moola | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 11 | 27 | 22 |
| 5 | Standard Chartered Bank | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 2 | 30 | 20 |
| 6 | CBZ | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 15 | 21 | 18 |
| 7 | Nedbank | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 11 |
| 8 | Ecobank | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 17 | -7 | 9 |
| 9 | Agribank | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 28 | -12 | 9 |
| 10 | Fidelity Life | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 16 | 40 | -24 | 9 |
| 11 | Zimswitch | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 27 | -20 | 5 |
| 12 | POSB | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 13 | 57 | -44 | 4 |
| 13 | Payserv | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 59 | -52 | 3 |
| 14 | RBZ | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 36 | -30 | 0 |