30 Oct 2015

Orapa United’s superiority over Extension Gunners shows no signs of ending as the Ostriches cancelled Mapantsula’s lead in the second stanza of a Mascom Top 8 first-leg played in Orapa yesterday night (October 29).

Orapa went into last night’s game having dominated their duels with Gunners winning four and drawing one in the five games they played in their three seasons league campaign.

Extension Gunners have not been doing well in the premier league. However, that did not discourage them in the Mascom Top 8 clash as they played their hearts out.

Gunners’ Pako Gaofose looked certain to open the scoring sheet from close range in the early minutes of the game only to be denied by Orapa shot stopper, Mosimanegape Robert.

Tshegofatso Chimuku was excellent as he enjoyed half chances and made the Orapa defense sweat with his magic touches. Orapa had to dig deep into their experience to fend off waves of attacks from the visitors, who were playing with confidence.

Gaofose scored for the Peleng giants in the stroke of half time. The game was played under two halves whereby the visitors dominated the first half and the home team came into the second half strongly.

The hosts came back like a house on fire with Kabo Mungabe going close, but Gunners goalkeeper Lame Tladinyane denied him a goal.

The Ostriches continued to have a lively second half and they were rewarded for their persistence in the last 20 minutes when Mcgini Sibanda powered home outside the box.

The two teams made their substitutes trying to look for the winning goal but it was too late as the game ended in a one-all draw. Chimuku’s hardwork earned him a man of the match award and he walked away with P3 500.

In an interview, Gunners coach, Daniel Nare, said he was happy with a draw especially that Orapa was deadly when at home.

Orapa coach, Madinda Ndlovu said a draw was a fair result considering the fact that Gunners was a good team and he was happy because they were still unbeaten at home. END