By Ricky Zililo
The Central Soccer League champions will be confirmed on the last day of the season when the two contenders Tongogara and TelOne clash for the sole Premiership ticket.
The two teams made sure they set the tone for an exciting end to the season by picking up maximum points in the penultimate round of the competition.
Tied on 41 points after 21 games, Tongogara capitalised on home advantage to beat Sheasham 2-0 at Battlefields, courtesy of a Maxwell Muzondo brace, while TelOne edged Blanket Mine 1-0 in Gwanda through a Mostafa Ponyera strike.
The title chasing teams will clash in Gweru next Sunday, with Tongogara needing a draw to be promoted.
The army side, which was relegated from the topflight in 2000, is confident of returning to the Premiership after close to two decades in the wilderness of First Division football.
Calvin Maphosa, the Tongogara coach, said they are geared up to bringing topflight action to Kwekwe, whose last Premiership representatives was the now defunct Lancashire Steel in 2008.
“What has been driving us, besides our hard work, is the desire to bring PSL action to the Kwekwe community.
“We will be using Baghdad Stadium once we gain promotion and I’m sure that the Kwekwe community is also excited about the possibility of the Premiership returning to the town,” said Maphosa.
“All we have to do is draw and we are back in the PSL. The good thing is that we don’t have pressure at all and pressure is on TelOne, who need an outright win for them to get the PSL ticket. We are also out to preserve our unbeaten run on the road.”
In the reverse fixture, the two teams drew 0-0.
Fireworks are expected at the weekend, with TelOne coach Joel Luphahla challenging his players to come to the party.
“As coaches and the executive, we have done our part and now the players have to win for themselves.
“We’re not going to change the way we’ve been doing things and put ourselves under unnecessary pressure.
“We’ll take the game like any other league game, with the only difference being that we need nothing other than victory to go to the PSL,” Luphahla said. The Chronicle
Results
Sunday: Tongogara 2-0 Sheasham, Blanket Mine 0-1 TelOne, Platinum Under-19 0-1 Whawha, Lesaffre 1-3 Vumbachikwe, MSU 2-1 ZPC Munyati, Black Eagles 0-1 Ivan Hoe Mine
Final fixture
Week 22: TelOne v Tongogara, Whawha v Blanket Mine, Vumbachikwe v Platinum Under-19, ZPC Munyati v Lesaffre, Ivan Hoe Mine v MSU, Sheasham v Black Eagles
CSL Table
P W D L F A GD Pts
Tongogara 21 11 8 2 26 10 16 41
TelOne 21 11 8 2 30 17 13 41
Whawha 21 10 8 3 31 18 13 38
ZPC Munyati 21 10 5 6 27 18 9 35
Ivan Hoe Mine 21 10 3 8 27 24 3 33
MSU 21 8 8 5 21 15 6 32
Sheasham 21 8 7 6 21 16 5 31
FC Platinum 21 7 4 10 24 24 0 25
Vumbachikwe 21 7 4 10 17 24 -7 25
Blanket Mine 21 4 4 13 10 27 -17 16
FC Lasaffre 21 5 1 15 22 44 -22 16
Black Eagles 21 3 4 14 14 34 -20 13
