Knox Mutizwa
Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
IT’S now official; Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo will host its inaugural Easycall Cup final featuring city rivals Highlanders and Chicken Inn on Sunday. It will be a befitting end to the domestic season for Bulawayo football lovers as the match provides them with an opportunity to watch the 2015 Castle Lager Premiership champions and Caf Champions League participants Chicken Inn and the city’s biggest team Highlanders.
The final will also give Bosso fans the chance to bid farewell to their hitman Knox Mutizwa, who is almost certain to be playing his last match for the Bulawayo giants after impressing South African Premiership side Bidvest Wits where he underwent trials.
Mutizwa, who rose through the Highlanders’ junior ranks, scored 14 goals in 17 starts for Bosso, a feat that saw him attract the attention of the South African side’s scouts. He played in his third friendly match for the Clever Boys against SuperSport United last night and Sunday’s final will surely be an emotional occasion for the youngster.
The staging of the final at Emagumeni will be received with joy by both finalists and the city’s football fans as rumours had swirled that the organisers wanted the final to be held at a neutral venue in another city, with Mutare’s Sakubva Stadium being mentioned, as part of their bid to spread the game to other parts of the country.
However, the Premier Soccer League put the rumours to rest through their official Facebook and Twitter accounts yesterday by announcing that the Easycall Cup final would be held at Barbourfields Stadium. It will be the first time that the final of the Easycall Cup, which is bankrolled by mobile network operator NetOne, is staged in Bulawayo since the inaugural tournament in 2011.
Last year’s final between Dynamos and Triangle was held at the National Sports Stadium, with the eastern Lowveld side emerging victorious. The Easycall Cup is sponsored to the tune of $433,000 and the winners will pocket $80,000 while the losing finalists walk away with $50,000. The losing semi-finalists are guaranteed of $30,000 each and the first round casualties will get $20,000 each.
To book a place in the final, the two Bulawayo teams booted out Harare sides Caps United and Dynamos in dramatic fashion last Saturday and Sunday.
Chicken Inn walloped Caps United 3-0 in a match marred by an invasion of the pitch by Makepekepe fans towards the closing stages of the Saturday game. Bosso then outwitted Dynamos 2-1 in an entertaining encounter that saw the bad boy of local football Rodrick Mutuma being red-carded for kicking Ralph Matema in an off the ball incident.
Highlanders coach Amini Soma-Phiri will be looking for his first piece of silverware in his coaching career, but shrewd tactician, Joe Antipas stands in his way. Antipas has just lifted his second league title with the unheralded Chicken Inn, exactly five years after outfoxing the established clubs to the same award with the now defunct Motor Action.