Ngezi turn to psychologists

By Eddie Chikamhi

Ngezi Platinum Stars coach Tonderai Ndiraya believes his men have turned the corner after the team hired sports psychologists to talk to the players following a lean spell that saw them losing four games on the trot.

The platinum miners started the season on fire by setting a club record 14 consecutive games without defeat which kept them on top of the table for the better part of the race.

However, a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Bulawayo Chiefs on June 3 saw them losing to FC Platinum, Black Rhinos and Herentals.

Ndiraya said the club had to bring in experts to tame the tide.

“Mentally, our boys were affected when we lost our first match, they were not prepared for it and after that we tried to bounce back against FC Platinum.

“But while we thought we had done enough to win that game we just lost it in the final minutes of the match and that really had a huge effect on our players and the team as a whole.

“So I can say we were not really psychologically prepared for the bad moments in football and that led us to lose four matches in a row.

“It was difficult for our players, but we have spoken to them. We had to bring in some people to talk to them and I think it really helped.

“We have been fortunate to get sports psychologists to talk to our boys and so far I am quite happy they have responded quite well,” said Ndiraya.

Ngezi Platinum took the advantage of the slip by FC Platinum, who have not won a match since the resumption of the second half matches.

Ngezi have 44 points while third-placed Chicken Inn kept stalking the leaders with a 1-0 win at Mutare City which took them to 37 points.

Giants Highlanders also made significant gains with a 1-0 win over Triangle.

They won by the same margin against Herentals the previous week after they had gone on a lean spell of three defeats.

Highlanders now have 35 points followed by CAPS United and Triangle on 32.

Ndiraya was relieved the race was opening up again ahead of their next game at home against newboys Nichrut.

“There are still 14 games to go and anything can happen in those games. It is our hope and wish that we continue on the same path.

“We have won two and we hope to win more, but it’s not going to be easy for us.

“In the next coming weeks, we are playing very strong opposition. So we are hoping that we keep the grip, we will keep working hard and we will keep grinding results.

“It’s a long road. It’s a tight race and we have demanded some consistency from our players and the two games we have won are really giving us hope that we can have that consistency,” said Ndiraya. The Herald