Perkins-Tino Bare

By Perkins-Tino Bare A resurgent Highlanders will face their strongest test so far when they face Dynamos in the second semi-fianl of the Easycall Cup to be played this Sunday at Barbourfields stadium. The first semi-final is set to be played at the same venue oin Saturday the 4th as Caps United take on Chicken Inn who have somewhat of a chance at a league double given the infancy of the tourney. Highlanders who had been on a winning streak in a league that saw them creeping up the log onto 6th position, will be hoping to bank on their recent run of good form. Players to look forward to in the match for Bosso are Ralph Matema and Know Mutizwa who have been getting the goals for Highlanders. Bosso will be looking to bag their first piece of silverware thie season in the Easycall Cup as they enjoy home advantage in the semi finals.   Its not looking good for Dynamos however as their two strikers Takesure Chinyama and Roderick Mutuma could miss the match after they were handed four matc

By Perkins-Tino Bare The Gamecocks cliched the league title with a game to spare as they blew away a Harare City 3-1 . FC Platinum failed to keep the gamecocks in sight as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by a resurgent Caps United. This then effectively handed Chicken Inn their maiden league title and it means the title will be making its way once again to Bulawayo after a painful 9 years of waiting. Highlanderrs on the other hand continued with their good run of form chugging their way to a top four finish after enduring a rather long season. Gamecocks Rule the Roost With head coach Joey Antipas under immense pressure, Chicken Inn needed to start winning their matches to wrap up what they had started and they went into this match from the back of three consecutive draws. They then went on to dispatch Harare City 3-1 in a match played at Luveve stadium securing their maiden league title which seemd to have been slipping right through their paws. The gamecock

By Perkins-Tino Bare As the title race reaches its climax, most teams will be kicking themselves for failing to take up the opportunities laid to them on match-day 28 while others are going to look back at it and give it all the credit it deserves. Chicken Inn continued to struggle for results as they weer once again held to a 1-1 draw by stubborn boys Tsholotsho. Fc Platinum failed to take up the offer and go level on points as they had to struggle at Lafarge holding on to a 1-1 draw against Flame Lily aho`s also fighting relegation. Buffaloes recovered from the loss against Highlanders as they beat ZPC Kariba but still remained in the relegation zone. Joey chickening out?  The Gamecocks played against a stubborn Tsholotsho who are ready to kill for their survival in the league this season. Over the past few matches Tsholotsho has been able to gain the valuable points but it has been ugly. Likewise Tsholotsho took the lead early on the stroke of half time throug

By Perkins-Tino Bare The senior men`s national rugby sevens side the Cheetahs is in Johannesburg for the Rio Olympic qualifiers which are set to start tomorrow. Zimbabwe will battle it out with Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, Zambia, Botswana, Madagascar, Mauritius and Morocco for a place at the Olympics. The top side at the qualifying tournament will join the top four teams from the 2014-2015 HSBC Sevens World Series, as well as Brazil, who qualify automatically as hosts. The runners up will head to another reprive tournament, due to take place before June 2016 which will as well book a place at the tournament. The tournament is divided into pools of 4 teams each with Pool A headed by top seed Kenya, along with Madagascar, Senegal and Mauritius, while the Cheetahs will line up against Zambia, Uganda and Nigeria in Pool B. Pool C has North African rivals Tunisia and Morocco together with Namibia and Botswana also in that same pool. The C

By Perkins-Tino Bare The current mess at 53 Livingstone is said to have started way back when Leo Mugabe was in power. The tenure saterted just like all others and ever since we have had the Henrietta Rushwaya who was literally selling our game to the Asians and the incumbent Cuthbert Dube who was oustred after a hard fought battle. Ever sincce then noone ever thinks of the collective lot which is the game itself. People are just being driven by what they can get out of Zifa be in financially or just a ticket to be a media representative at a tournament. Noone cares about the game anymore and as Zifa now looks for its next President we run through the accepted list of candidates one by one as we try to pick apart which man is best suited for the job.    Trevor Carelse Juul Former Zifa president himself, he has received a lot of ccriticism most of it stemming from the fact that he has been away from home for a long time which then quest

The race for the championship in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League took an dramatic turn as the gamecocks dropped two points after they were held to a 1-1 draw by relegation threatened Whawha. FC Platinum on the other hand capitalised on this as they blew away Harare City 2-0 cutting the lead to just 2 points with 3 more games to play. This then puts pressure on the gamecocks who are starting to feel the heat as they cannot afford to lose a match whilst all FC Platinyum need to do at this moment is to win their remaining games. Dongo Sawmill lost their fight to remain in the PSL whilst the much awaited Harare Derby ended in a stalemate. Gamecocks Flapping to the Heat The gamecocks are slowly starting to feel the heat as we draw closer to the end of the season. They were held to a draw by relegation-threatened Whawha who did themselves a favour. Toto Banda was the heron for the gamecocks right at the end saved the Gamecocks who had toiled the whole

By Perkins-Tino Bare  Zimbabwe Cricket is in Bangladesh for their series filling up the slot opened up when Australia cancelled their tour due to security concens. The series comprises of 3 ODI`s and 2 T20`s with the first match slated for the 7 th of November. This is the worst time to play Bangladesh as they are in blazing from with the last series having ended in a series whitewash for them. The skipper Elton Chigumbura is quite happy that they are getting more cricket even though they are not winning while he was quick to downlay that the recent losses signalled the death of our game. “We have been asking for more cricket, This opportunity to play is something we take positively. It is good for our young players to have more cricket on a regular basis. We are happy that we got the go-ahead to play cricket here. Hopefully it will be a good tour for us.” Chigumbura said in an interview with a local daily. He then went on to stress that it was a new era for the Chevrons as

By Perkins-Tino Bare Benjani Mwaruwari has also entered the race for the top post at Zifa after he collected his forms yesterday at 53 Livingstone. Facing an age limit which might just force him to settle for Vice-Presidency post, he enters the race for the Zifa president who is supposed to be elected on 5 December with nominations closing on 5 November hen the approved nominees list is also expected to be released. Benjani arrived into the country on Monday night and was quick to collect two nomination papers at the Zifa offices at 53 Livingstone. The post however has an age limit with the Zifa constitution stating that any aspiring candidate for the Presidential post at Zifa should be older than 40 yeasr old. Benjani, however is still only 39 meanign that as per the Zifa technicalities he cannot contest for the top post at Zifa. Benjani has not lost hope either as he has decided to settle for the Vice-Presidency post, this then would mean that he will be withi

By Perkins-Tino Bare As Zimbabwe Cricket still recovers from the recent humiliating loss to Afghanistan which left us all stunned, it really still needs too be seen whta the way forward is for Zimbabwe Cricket considering that we have reached rock-bottom with the bulk of our players also slowly reaching the end of their playing days. The current Chevrons squad is comprised mainly of players from the U/19 team that sparkled back in 2004. This had all the names in it Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Craig Ervine, Tinashe Panyangara and Sean Williams. However looking at that squad it has not been able to fully develop into world beaters. From that squad its only Brendan Taylor (whom we lost) and Sean Williams who were able to develop into good cricketers. In this past series Sean Williams was fighting a sole battle and that is just a testament to that fact. The fact therefore is this is certainly not an issue of talent in our doldrums but the structure in itself does no allow our playe

By Perkins-Tino Bare Match-day 26 in the Castle Lagfer Premier Soccer League ended with a round yesterday with fixtures having started during the weekend. The biggest match was the top of the log clash between Chicken Inn and Fc Platinum which was billed to be the title decider. Dynamos` dim hopes of retaining the title on the other hand were all but ended as they slipped further in a race which they had exited long ago after being held to a draw by relegation threatened Flame Lily. Buffaloes slipped into the relegation zone giving Tsholotsho hope of staying in the league leading them to a hard fought 1-0 win. Hwange`s win over Buffaloes saw them moving in place for that top four fininsh but there is still wirk to be done as Caps United and Triangle are also well in contention. Gamecocks Marching On The Gamecocks marched on to that maiden league title as they drew 1-1 with FC Platinum in a match played at Luveve Stadium yesterday. Chicken Inn went into the match e

By Perkins-Tino Bare It was just a few months ago when for a whole month cricket fans rallied behind the Chevrons as they were taking part in the World Cup. Though the team was knocked out in the 1st round most people still rallied behind it praising the manner in which the team lost, the lads did not go down without a fight and in most instances they could have won some of the matches had it not been for their indiscipline. Over the years it seemed as if Bangladesh was the only team Zimbabwe Cricket played. For a while it seemed as if the problem with our national cricket team the Chevrons was that they did not get enough game-time and this accounted for their dismal performances. Well over the past few months  well in fact the whole of 2015 if we are to add the World Cup as well. The team has played a lot of cricket we have hosted India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland and now Afghanistan. The lads have therefore been exposed to different qualities yet one result has been recurrent

By Perkins-Tino Bare Last week controversial cricketer Mark Vermueulen was banned from all cricketing activity by Zimbabwe Cricket after posting racial cooments on facebook. Thsi was not the first time as he had involved inseveral other case but by their nature, weren`t they induced by that long forgotten career threatening injury he had and hiw far di he go in terms of recovery. "Mark Vermeulen has been banned from participating in all cricket activities, after he owned up to repulsive remarks that reflect racism, prejudice and plain ignorance. We find Vermeulen's Facebook comment distasteful and unacceptable, particularly for a senior sportsman who should have learned from playing in Zimbabwe and abroad that there is no place for racism in sport." read the statement by Zimbabwe Cricket. ZC further empasised that there is no place for racism in Cricket. Vermeulen however apologised to some of the teammates namely prosper Utseya “I apologised

By Perkins-Tino Bare Zimbabwe`s National Women`s Football team the Mighty Warriors made history as they became the first team to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics to e held in Rio Da Janeiro next year in Brazil,. The Mighty warriors need to beat  Cameroon 1-0 in the 2nd leg played at Rufaro Stadium yesterday. Going into the second trailing after having lost the 1st leg 2-1, The mighty Warriors needed to beat  Cameroon 1-0 to book their place at the Olympics and Rudo Neshamba provided that erly goal to settle the nerves of the girls. It was vital that the goal cam in early because what it then did was that it settled the nerves of the girls who knew they were just on the brink of making history. It was important that we went to the break leading yesterday meaning that as they came out for the second half they did not necessarily have to go all out but all they needed was to stay deep within their own half and protect that lead and then hope to catch Cameroon on the counter. Even as Ca

By Perkins-Tino Bare Focus now shifts to Afghanistan as the Irish got their consolation in a series which had all but been decided in the 3rd ODI played on Tuesday at the Harare Sports Club. The Chevrons had earlier taken an assailable 2-0 lead in the series in the 3 match series which was more or less a repeat of that Hobart affair that left a sour taste in the mouths of many a Chevron. Going into the match the Chevrons were rather relaxed as they rested paceman Tinashe Panyangara and Craig Ervine who had an appetite for Irish bowling as he had a half0-century and a full ton in the 2nd ODI. Tawanda Muzarabani got to have a go as the selectors rested that pair in favor of the youngsters. The youngest of the Masakadza brothers, wellington also maintained his place in the team together with Brian Chari, who is being opted for Hasmilton Masakadza who was dropped for his poor performances. The Irish won the toss and decided to send in Zimbabwe to bat this time and the Chevrons batting f

By Perkins-Tino Bare The Gamecocks stamped their paws on the league title race in all but three minutes as they once again retained their 7 point lead at the summit of the table with just 5 games to go. The Gamecocks had to rely on some late drama to see off a stubborn How Mine as Dynamos failed to capitalise on them playing later than the the other protagonists in the race. They were held to a draw by the owners of the stadium at Rufaro Stadium as Harare City made its way to that top 4 finish whilst Caps Uniited and Triangle lost their way in that race. FC Platinum also kept their heads in the race as they saw off Division 1 bound Dongo Sawmill. At the other end of the table its still the newboys who are set to go back down with Buffaloes not yet safe as they are just 3 points off the relegation zone. Gamecocks March On Chicken Inn marched towards their maiden title in a Bulawayo derby as they saw off How Mine 2-1 in a match played Saturday at Luveve stadium.