Musa Mandaza
Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Southern Region Division One Soccer League will not have a mid-season break as the management has slotted in the John Landa Nkomo Liquor Hub Super 8 Cup.
The top eight teams at the league’s halfway mark will go into the hat for the draw to be conducted at the Southern Region mid-year general meeting set for August 13.
Musa Mandaza, Zifa Southern Region chairman, said they expect to have cleared the fixture backlog by the time they go for that meeting.
“What will happen is that we won’t have a mid-season break because some teams have played fewer matches than others. The coming weeks will see our league programme slowing a bit as we play catch-up, meaning that some teams will not play while waiting for others to clear their outstanding matches. We want the second half of the season to be flawless, so instead of going for a break, we will have our tournament immediately starting after 15 rounds of matches,” said Mandaza.
Log leaders Bantu Rovers, Amagagasi, ZPC Hwange, Bulawayo Chiefs and Black Boots have secured places in the John Landa Nkomo Liquor Hub Super 8 Cup draw being sponsored by city businessman Raj Modi.
Sixth-placed ZRP Bulawayo, who have 18 points from 14 outings, Victoria Falls Tigers with 17 points from 12 games and Bosso 90, who occupy the last qualification slot with 16 points from 14 games, all risk missing out.
Tigers need five points from three games to book a place in the competition, while ZRP Bulawayo and Highlanders will be praying that Technosphere, who are ninth with 16 points from 12 games, lose their next three games to remain in contention.
Another team that is currently outside the top eight, but could still sneak into the tournament are 11th-placed Ntabazinduna, who sit on 14 points from 13 outings.
If Ntabazinduna win their two games and ZRP Bulawayo and Bosso 90 fail to pick maximum points in their coming encounters, they will take their points tally to 20 and finish the first half of the season in the top eight.
“The coming games will be very exciting and competitive as they battle for slots in the top eight. No one wants to miss out and we’re really looking forward to an interesting finish to the first half of the season,” Mandaza said.