Castle Lager Matchday Round-Up
By Perkins-Tino Bare
As we reach the business end of this
year`s edition of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, it was all
business again as teams tried to make their last howl at the title
whilst others were involved in the relegation dogfight which will be
the last in which four teams will go down. At barbourfields a man was
on a mission to save his job as earlier this week he had been issued
an ultimatum to win or lose his job.
King Fails To Save Mafu
A brace from promising youngster King
Nadolo was not enough to save Bongani Mafu`s job as his team went
dowm to Chicken Inn 2-3. This was Highlander`s third loss on the trot
after losing to FC Platinum 2-1 and then to Hwahwa 1-0. Highlanders
last won a league match when they pumelled How Mine 5-1 and that was
right on the brink when Mafu`s job hung in this balance.
Highlanders went into this match
without Knox Mutizwa buthe was going to be the smaller equation as
Bongani Mafu knew that the only thing that was going to save his job
was a victory over Chicken Inn. Chicken Inn dictated the play on the
afternoon but Highlanders found their way back into the match and had
it not been for an Ariel Sibanda blunder theywould have scrapped a
point from the match. The gamecocks opened the scoring through
Bhekimpilo Ncube in the 24th minute but King Nadolo was to
deny them the lead in the first half. In the second half they managed
to regasin their lead but was again the King struck and it took a
blunder from Ariel Sibanda for Chickenn Inn to wrap0-up the match
3-2. The win sees Chickenn Inn mauintain their lead on top with 43
points whilst Highlanders in dumped into 10th position on
the log. Joey Antipas was full of praise for his men, `“We got
vital points to keep us going. It was a good derby. I would like to
give credit to Highlanders for fighting back and to my boys for the
fighting spirit to the end. The title is still a dog chase with
Dynamos, FC Platinum and Triangle chasing,” Antipas said in an
interview.
No Coming Back
Dynamos ensured that their campaign for
a 5th consecutive title was alive and well as they beat
How Mine 1-0 at Rufaro Stadium in a match played yesterday. Ronald
Chitiyo broke away in added time to slot it home ensuring that they
got all 3 points. How Mine had been able to hold Dynamos and justr
when they thought the point was secure they then lost it right at the
end.
Dembare are now starting to show their slimy character of killing teams right at the end of the game. That championship winning mentality is slowly starting to creep up at just the right moment when the league is reaching its business end. They entertained How Mine for the whole 90 minutes only to hit them when it hurts the most, stoppage time, 1-0 to Dembare and there`s no coming back from that. This late charge is the same that denied Kelvin Kaindu the title 3 times in a row before he eventually lost his job. On the other hand Joey Antipas can see this and he knows that the wheels seem to be coming off for him but he is starting to be more cautious and this should all make to a very interesting end to the league as the wheat is separated from the chaff. If there is a man who needs to be afraid, very afraid, is Kelvin Kaindu as he seems to have no answer to this character whenever it peeps on him.
The win sees Dynamos trailing the
Gamecocks by 4 points who also had to dig deep for their win as well
as they seem not to be coming easy especially for the title chasing
teams.
Triangle also lost on the other hand to
on-fire FC Platinum who took the lead in the 23th minute through
Brian Muzondiwa and there waqs no coming back from that for Triangle
who are now frustrating all hopes of the league title going to the
lowveld and for once not being in either Harare or Bulawayo. “We
failed to score as a team. We had many chances and I believe we were
just unlucky because, just look at how many times we hit the post,”
Kaindu said in a post match interview.
Going Down?
On the other end of the table the
relegation dogfight contnued as teams scrap their last minute points
to save themselves from going down. Dongo Sawmilll recorded their 3rd
win but it was not enough however as they remained footed at the
bottom of the log. They accounted for visiting Tsholotsho at Vengere
Stadium and though they are on the right path getting those last
minute points it could as well be a little too late. The fact that
its only their 3rd win of the season might work against
them. With the win Dongo now have 16 points two behind 13th
placed Tsholotsho who moveed out of the relegation zone and they will
be hoping that Bosso keeps Mafu as they are not well in sight of the
trip down.
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