Tense weekend for premiership

By Eddie Chikamhi

FRONT-runners in this year’s Castle Lager Premiership race Joey Antipas and Norman Mapeza insist they are not new to the title dogfights as they hope to lead Chicken Inn and FC Platinum back to winning ways following the disappointing mid-week results.

The two former Premiership title winners have established their teams as strong candidates but they face a somewhat uncertain weekend ahead, with pressure to breath fresh inspiration into their campaigns after dropping points on Wednesday.

Chicken Inn drew 1-1 with Tsholotsho and will host Harare City tomorrow while FC Platinum will welcome rejuvenated Harare giants CAPS United at Mandava.

Defending champions Dynamos, who have suddenly forced themselves back into the picture following their 2-1 win over Dongo Sawmill, will be fancying their chances in a home date with Chapungu at Rufaro tomorrow.

And as the Castle Lager Premiership slowly reaches the climax, log leaders Chicken Inn should know what it means when they open their doors to visiting Harare City at Luveve.

The Bulawayo side is leading the campaign on 55 points, two ahead of FC Platinum in second place. Chicken Inn coach, Antipas, said the Gamecocks are not pressing the panic button after they had failed to collect maximum points in their last three matches.

Antipas, who won the 2010 championship with Motor Action, needs a winning formula after his side dropped crucial points in identical 1-1 stalemates with FC Platinum, Whawha and lately Tsholotsho.

These results could suggest that the Gamecocks’ campaign might be losing inertia at a decisive moment of the race, with only two games remaining in the season.

Just last month, it looked like they had everything in their hands after building a comfortable cushion at the top of the table but they have lacked consistency.

“If you ask me, we could have loved to win this championship with two or three games remaining but football is very unpredictable,” said Antipas. “For sure, the results haven’t been coming our way of late but it’s not over yet. If we are meant to take this championship, we will take it.

“Winning the league title is not an easy thing. It takes a lot of determination and focus. The pressure is always there and it’s even worse at this time of the season. So we need to put in some hard work. We have got some really tight fixtures coming up in the remaining two games and we hope to turn up.”

The Gamecocks resumed their preparations yesterday, just 24 hours after the 1-1 draw with newboys Tsholotsho. Their opponents Harare City appear to have missed the top four finish following the 1-1 draw with relegated WhaWha.

City who are this year’s “draw specialists” have played more stalemates than any other team in the league and they should be aiming to spoil the party for the Gamecocks.

FC Platinum’s Mapeza is also anxious about tomorrow’s duel with Makepekepe who appear to have found a new lease following the return of Lloyd Chitembwe to lead the technical side recently. The platinum miners would need to recover from the mid-week disappointment at Flame Lily where they dropped two critical points in a 1-1 deadlock.

Mapeza said the draw at Flame Lily will not destabilise their campaign and is confident FC Platinum will not crack under pressure. He said this is not his first time to be involved in such tense situations as he recalled the 2008 campaign when he had to rally Monomotapa back in contention and won the league title despite a poor start.

FC Platinum, however, should also be feeling the heat after their nearest rivals Dynamos cranked up the pressure on them following their 2-1 win at Dongo. Dynamos are third in the table but they reduced the points gap between them and FC Platinum to two points. Mapeza nonetheless will not be distracted.

“We are facing CAPS United at home and it’s a massive game. The most important thing is to stay focused, try to play well and get a positive result. We will see how the season unfolds. It’s still game on. Six points to play for, it’s still game on.

“I’ve been in this situation before when I was at Monomotapa. At least we are a little bit better (this time) because of the points difference. “But it’s a challenge.

“As a coach this is what you strive for, to be found in such situations. I am happy with the challenge. It will show my mental strength, it will show also the mental strength of the boys. So it’s a good challenge,” said Mapeza.

The struggle will also be tense at the bottom where Flame Lily will take their fight for survival to fellow Zimbabwe Correctional Services side WhaWha who have already been relegated. The remaining team in the bottom four, Buffaloes travel to Triangle while Tsholotsho will be looking to cement their position of safety when they “host” Bulawayo giants Highlanders at Barbourfields.

Fixtures

Saturday: Chicken Inn v Harare City (Luveve), FC Platinum v CAPS United (Mandava), ZPC Kariba v Hwange (Nyamhunga), Dynamos v Chapungu (Rufaro)

Sunday: How Mine v Dongo Sawmill (Luveve), Highlanders v Tsholotsho (Barbourfields), WhaWha v Flame Lily (Ascot), Triangle United v Buffaloes (Gibbo). The Herald