Castle Lager Matchday 27 Round-Up

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 afternoon in frustration after failing to deflate the solid Whawha defence which was well marshalled by Marshal Machazane.

The gamecocks gaffer blamed his tactics on the day as they were unable to get that all important early goal, “We wanted to get an early goal to ease pressure off us but we ended up conceding. We didn’t really play our normal game because of the pressure to get an early goal and also where we are at the log. But I also want to give credit for fighting up to the end, they showed so much character which is needed at the stage of the campaign,” Antipas said in a post match interview.

All things seemed to have fallen into place for Whawha whose only goal was to frustrate the gamecocks and get a draw from the match. The dtraw still sees Chicken Inn on top but with just 6 points up for grabs in the remaining two match its all set to boil right down to the end.

FC Platinum on the other hand capitalised on this as they beat Harare City 2-0 in their match closing the gap to just 2 points with 3 more games to be played in the league. The miners got their all important goals from Nigel Papius in the 55th minute and a Marshall Mudehwe strike in the 66th minute who wrapped the win in at Mandava Stadium igniting the hopes of their maiden title once again which seemed to be fading to a defiant Chicken Inn.

“It was a massive win for us. We needed the three points badly and our focus now is to collect nine points from the remaining three games and see what happens at the end of the season.

“My boys were under pressure when news filtered that Chicken Inn had drawn but we managed to talk to them at half time where I urged them to be focused on our match and forget about the Chicken Inn result,’’ said Norman Mapeza in apost match interview after the match.
This then puts the league title well in reach of FC Platinum wwho now trail the leaders by just two points with 6 up for grabs in the remaining two matches.

Harare Derby Stale

The Harare Derby ended in a stalemate as Dynamos were held to 1-1 draw in a mthc played at Rufaro Stadium. Dynamos went into the match unbeaten by Caps United in a league match since 2009 but history did not matter much as Caps themselves are enjoying a resurgence.

Dynamos coach Tonderayi Ndiraya agreed that the result was fair “I thought we controlled the first half, but could not get maximum points. We conceded a soft goal because of poor marking, but I think it was a fair result. We have to keep fighting to the end. It’s game on. We need to post good results. We will also try and win the EasyCall Cup,” he said in a post macth interview with a local daily.
Goingg Down?
Dongo Sawmill were eventually relegated and it is still yet to be seen who is going to follow them. Buffaloes went down 1-0 to Highlanders and this then put Tsholothso 3 points off the relegation zone with Whawha and Flame Lily also in that fix. With 3 games left it is sttilll to be seen which teams are following Dongo back to the Division 1.