MWOS FC were forced to settle for a 1–1 draw against visiting TelOne FC in the Castle Premier Soccer League at Ngoni Stadium on Saturday.
Murape put TelOne ahead after the break, capitalising on a defensive lapse to give the visitors the lead.
Murape tries his luck from long range, and Francis Tizayi fails to deal with it cleanly in goal for TelOne.
MWOS were awarded a penalty after a key moment in the box and Billy Veremu steps up and buries the penalty into the top-right corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to rescue a point for the hosts.
The result leaves last season’s runners-up MWOS still searching for their first win of the campaign despite creating several chances.
Lloyd Mutasa admitted TelOne FC were always going to be a difficult opponent, and although MWOS FC expected to take all three points at home.
“We always knew that playing tail one was going to be a tricky encounter, but we thought playing it home and having seen some of the players that we saw last time, we thought probably we would come and get the three points, but it wasn’t to be,” he said.
MWOS FC conceded a soft goal that forced them to chase the game, but the players maintained their concentration, with the newcomers refusing to be intimidated before the team eventually earned a late penalty.
“We conceded a very soft goal and that gave us pressure to the start chasing the game, of course we knew it was not going to be an easy one and we had to be careful in our approach.
“I am glad that we managed to maintain concentration, and even the new players refused to be intimidated and in the end we got that penalty, which is a plus for us in this case.’’
MWOS has already dropped four points in the opening games of the season, but Lloyd Mutasa feels that it is still early in the season, stressing the need to identify weaknesses, find solutions, and improve quickly.
“We already have lost four points, but I think still early days, the more you see the grey areas, probably the quicker we as a team try to find solutions and move on,” he added.
MWOS FC will travel to face Highlanders FC at Barbourfields Stadium, with confidence high despite Highlanders’ recent trophy success.
The coach said his side is prepared for the challenge and believes they are equally strong, adding that they are focused on competing and giving their best in the match.
“I think we know how the Barbourfields is like and we know whereHighlanders is coming from, they’re still buzzing with confidence from the trophy that they won in the point that they won last time but we are a team, just as strong as they are.”
“So we will go there for that, I’m not worried much about the youngsters moving away from this area going to other places, I’m sure we’ll give it a go and see how it goes.”
In their final meeting of the 2024–25 season [on June 29, 2025], MWOS FC defeated Highlanders 1–0. Despite Highlanders dominating much of the play at Barbourfields Stadium, Salif Cheya scored a 90th-minute winner for the “Punters.” This result completed a league double for MWOS, as they also won the season’s opening fixture 1–0 in March 2025.
