Highlanders (0) 0
Bulawayo Chiefs (1) 1
Report By Bayethe Mhlanga
HIGHLANDERS Dutch gaffer Hendrik Pieter de Jongh blamed a recent industrial action by his players as a cause of Wednesday’s shock defeat to relegation threaten Bulawayo Chiefs.
Bulawayo Chiefs who have created a giant killing reputation started strongly with Prince Dube surprisingly opening in defence before moving a bit forward after seven minutes.
Bulawayo Chiefs scored just a minute after Dube moved forward, taking advantage of a Bosso defense in sixes and sevens.
Addressing the media de Jongh blamed a recent industrial action by the players for the defeat, his first loss as head coach of Bosso.
“We went into the match with no focus and no positional discipline and in football everything starts with focus but we lacked that. I blame all this on the strike that we faced with players. We did not train for three days because the players were protesting against the delayed payment of their November salaries,” he said.
He added: “What do you expect when the players are demotivated, they don’t focus on the match and we are bound to lose. As a coach and as a team it’s difficult to prepare for a match when you haven’t trained in three days.”
Highlanders go into their last match of the season against Chapungu on Saturday with airmen fighting relegation.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo Chiefs are one foot out of the relegation zone as they now seat on position eleven on the log with 41 points.
They will play their last match of the season at home in Bulawayo against Herentals which they need only one point to survive the chop.