Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
RUNAWAY leaders in the Zifa Southern Region Soccer League Bulawayo City, who need 10 points from six games to clinch the title, have ruled out complacency and are targeting a strong season’s finish. City are on their way to writing their own piece of history by earning a Premier Soccer League ticket in the first attempt.
Philani “Beefy” Ncube, City’s coach is demanding maximum concentration from his charges.
“Obviously I’m happy that the guys are playing well and we have a good lead. However, we’re not letting the nine-point lead blind us because there are still lots of points to play for. We’re not relaxing at all and as a coach I’ll be happy if we finish the season strong,” said Ncube.
City are on 55 points, nine points ahead of Bulawayo Chiefs with six matches remaining.
The local authority bankrolled side takes on Casmyn at Luveve Stadium tomorrow. Casmyn beat City 1-0 in the first leg.
After the Casmyn, City will be away to Black Boots, home to ZPC Hwange, hit the road to Victoria Falls for a clash with Trumus, then come home to face Makomo before wrapping their season with an away fixture against Indlovu Iyanyathela.
Buoyed by last weekend’s 3-0 away win against Hwange Juniors, City will be out for maximum points against a Casmyn who handed them their first defeat of the season on May 9.
Simba Sithole, Mkhululi Moyo and Xolisani Moyo were on target for City.
Casmyn have had a satisfactory debut season and are capable of upsetting City.
Coached by Mduduzi Mpofu, Casmyn will pin their hopes on skipper Charles Murusha who will lead from the back alongside Wilfred Nzondo and striking duo of Nyasha Manzunzu and Perseverance Sibanda.
They also have creative midfielder Collin Mbewe who on a good day can thread defence-splitting passes to his strikers.
In other matches, Chiefs will be aiming at bouncing back to winning ways when they play host to Trumus at Fairbridge.
Chiefs’ championship hopes collapsed last weekend when they went down 0-1 at ZPC Hwange while Trumus edged Mpumalanga 1-0 in Victoria Falls.
It will be a clash of former teammates at Luveve Stadium tomorrow when Johannes Ngodzo coached Bantu Rovers lock horns with army side Indlovu Iyanyathela who are under the guidance of Bekithemba “Super” Ndlovu.
Fixtures
Today: Old Nic Mine v ZPC Hwange (cancelled), Ntabazinduna v Black Boots (Ntabazinduna), Technosphere v Hwange Juniors (Hwange)
Tomorrow: Amagagasi v Nust (Victoria Falls), Mpumalanga v Makomo (Hwange), Bulawayo City v Casmyn (Luveve), Bantu Rovers v Indlovu Iyanyathela (Luveve, 12PM), Bulawayo Chiefs v Trumus (Fairbridge)
Wednesday: Ntabazinduna v Mpumalanga (Ntabazinduna)
*All matches start at 3PM unless indicated
Table
P W D L F A GD Pts
Bulawayo City 24 17 4 3 33 5 28 55
Bulawayo Chiefs 24 13 7 4 35 11 24 46
ZPC Hwange 24 11 10 3 24 10 14 43
Casmyn 24 12 6 6 26 19 7 42
Bantu Rovers** 24 12 4 8 28 13 13 40
Makomo 24 11 6 7 21 17 4 39
Technosphere 24 11 7 6 27 15 12 37
Black Boots 24 7 12 5 24 18 7 33
Indlovu Iyanyathela 24 9 6 9 17 18 -1 33
Amagagasi 24 8 8 8 19 20 -1 32
Ntabazinduna 23 7 7 9 20 19 1 28
Trumus Warriors 24 4 10 10 12 19 -7 22
Nust 24 4 10 10 16 25 -9 19
Hwange Juniors 24 4 7 13 14 30 -16 19
Mpumalanga 23 2 3 18 7 41 -34 9
Old Nic Mine 24 1 6 17 7 49 -42 9
**Points deducted for using a suspended player.