OnSport Reporter
Highlanders FC suffered a shock home defeat to a determined Herentals FC at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday afternoon, which saw them drop to the ninth position on the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.
With Herentals seemingly fired up, it was easily noticeable that the body language of the Bosso players told a different story.
After the game, coach Kelvin Kaindu indicated that it was clear from the warm-up that they were going to have a difficult afternoon.
“We lost it from the warm-up. We lacked something. As a coach, you can tell from the warm-up when it’s going to be a difficult day. We looked a bit rusty,” said Kaindu, without revealing the reason behind the rustiness during the warm-up.
The coach made some strange substitutions, pulling out their best players this season, including Mason Mushore, Reason Sibanda, Brighton Ncube, Never Rauzhi, and left-back Archford Faira, whose substitution proved to be the turning point in the encounter.
However, what boggles the mind is what caused the problems before the start of the game. An insider revealed to OnSport Magazine the club was supposed to turn up for the match in their new Vecchio kit, but the coach refused because the kits arrived late.
“All was set for the new kit to be unveiled by the players on Sunday since it was a home match. The club had dropped a video earlier, showing the kits had arrived.
“But it seems they took a long time to get to the dressing room, which led to the coach stopping the team from putting on the new kit, and they had to use the old Adidas one,” revealed the source.
Perhaps the decision to stop the team from wearing the new kit could have dampened the mood in camp, affecting the players’ motivation and focus.
The excitement and anticipation surrounding the new kit might have been a morale booster, and its absence could have contributed to the team’s lethargic display on the pitch.
The question remains: Could it be the reason why the Bosso players were lethargic on Sunday? Or did they come face-to-face with a Herentals team that executed a well-planned strategy? They have now beaten Bosso twice at Barbourfields in consecutive seasons.
It was unamusing to see Arthur Ndlovu’s ill-timed chest pass to Raphael Pitisi, who failed to keep a clean sheet again, fall kindly on the path of veteran Ralph Kawondera, who had the easiest of tasks to tap home in front of the vociferous Soweto end.
The only silver lining for Bosso was perhaps the introduction of youngsters Prince Ndlovu, who proved to be a handful for the Herentals defence in the few minutes he was on the field, and Nigel Banda.
Bosso take on an equally struggling Dynamos in the country’s biggest match on Sunday, and after a morale-sapping defeat, they have their work cut out.
