HARARE CITY’s resurgence in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League will come under a genuine examination when they face off with Chapungu at Ascot Stadium this afternoon.
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
After a nightmarish start to the campaign where they lost six straight matches, the Bigboy Mawiwi-coached side are a completely different side now – notching up an impressive seven points in the last three matches.
They have scored seven goals in the period under review, and conceding just twice.
Their 4-1 demolition of Bantu Rovers at Rufaro Stadium on Monday was as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests and endorsed one widely held belief; that the last season runners up were just going through a bad patch and that they will rise again, and rising they are.
But today they are at Ascot, which has not been a happy hunting ground for many teams this season. Three of the league’s big guns Dynamos, Caps United and Highlanders have already visited this venue this season, and they will be the first to admit that its very chilly in that part of the country. Highlanders scrapped a draw, but league champions Dynamos were not so fortunate and were beaten 1-0. As for Caps United, they were thrashed 3-0.
Mawiwi is aware of the task at hand but is still confident of doing what many others teams before him have failed to do.
“It is going to be a difficult match for us. We played on Monday and they played on Saturday so they had more time to prepare for the game more than us. But we are very positive going to Gweru and I am confident we can get a positive result.”
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On the other hand, Chapungu have been poor on the road, as evidenced by their loss 1-0 loss to ZPC Kariba at Gwanzura last weekend. But they remain a serious threat in front of their own supporters, as How Mine, Hwange and Shabanie Mine have also all found this season, as they were forced to settle for a point. Chapungu coach John Nyikadzino is positive of maintaining his unbeaten record at Ascot intact.
“We have prepared for them and I am confident we will do well. The weekend loss away to ZPC Kariba is water under the bridge, we will be playing at home and with our supporter s around we have an advantage over them and we want to utilise that.”
