FC PLATINUM and Shabanie Mine square off in what is likely to be an explosive final of the 2013 edition of the BancABC Sup8r Cup at Mandava Stadium on Saturday.
SUKOLUHLE MTHETHWA
The final and next week’s Mbada Diamonds Cup first round, have again forced the league to cancel matches, with the league resuming on October 4.
PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele yesterday told our Bulawayo Bureau that league games have been put on hold.
“We are not going to have mid-week Premier League games or any league matches until the beginning of October. We have the BancABC Sup8r Cup final coming this Saturday and we will have the Mbada Diamonds Cup the following week. However, our league programme will still finish on time,” he said.
Focus will be on this year’s BancABC Sup8r Cup as Lloyd Mutasa attempts to land FC Platinum’s third trophy in their three-year history in the top flight.
They won the Bob88 Cup in addition to the Independence Trophy under Rahman Gumbo and Tendai Chikuni and now Mutasa wants to write his own piece of history.
The former Dynamos coach has won each cup competition he has participated in, first the Bob87 and then the Swazi Bank Cup in the mountain kingdom.
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He has led his team to fourth place in the PSL standings and with the momentum in his favour, they are the favourites going into the final.
Platinum will be seeking to redeem themselves after they lost to Caps United in the semi-finals of the NetOne Charity Shield at the start of the season at home.
And Platinum got the best preparation for the final when they dismissed Monomotapa 2-0 in a league match at Mandava-their second victory over the same opponents inside three weeks.
The platinum miners beat Monoz 3-1 in the semi-finals of the Sup8r.
On the other hand, Shabanie Mine have had an unfruitful two weeks after they lost 2-0 to Black Rhinos in a league match in Kadoma before last Saturday’s 1-1 home draw against Motor Action.
Luke Masomere, the Shabanie coach, has previously won the OK Woza Bhora with Masvingo, and is well aware of the rewards that come with winning cup competitions.
Winners will take home $120 000 with the losers raking in $70 000. The man of the match, top goalscorer and player of the tournament will be also be named after the tournament.
