Herentals coach Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva was disappointed after seeing his charges lose their second match in the Castle Lager PSL by the same margin and from identical situations as they did in their season opener against Ngezi Platinum on matchday one.

The Students dominated possession, creating several chances but failed to execute them in a 0-2 loss to Highlanders. Highlanders substitute Ozias Zibande made an immediate impact as his header off a lofted cross by MacClive Phiri was tipped for a corner by Herentals goalkeeper, Prince Tafiremutsa. From the resultant corner, Zibande headed home six minutes after he had been introduced. His second was almost a carbon copy of the first as he headed to the far post of Tafiremutsa’s goal from a Nigel Makumbe corner.

Mutiwekuziva was frustrated after seeing his charges concede from standard situations.

“It’s painful to see the team concede from set-plays as we did against Ngezi in our opening game.

“We have to work very hard to correct that scenario. We played quite well today and missed a couple of clear-cut chances.

“It also comes down to inexperience and stage fright on the part of my players.

“We were supposed to have scored two or three goals in the first half and at least added one before they scored their opening goal.

“It is always disappointing to lose. But, overall I am happy the players are showing improvement in several other aspects of the game. It is unfortunate we ended up losing the match but I feel we should have at least taken home something,” he said.

Herentals director Innocent Benza played for 67 minutes, and the 45-year-old slowed the tempo upfront as he was not adding anything when the team attacked but Mutiwekuziva defended his inclusion of the club boss.

“Both Innocent and Tinotenda play on merit. They are good enough and they are actually assets to my team. Their involvement has nothing whatsoever to do with their shareholding in terms of the team’s ownership structure. They are good players and they will surely help us survive relegation, which is our target this season,” said Mutiwekuziva.