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PSL strugglers happy to re-fuel

Sport
MUSHOWANI assistant coach Warren Mapanga believes the Castle Lager Premiership (PSL) break will benefit struggling teams more than those that have been in top form.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

MUSHOWANI assistant coach Warren Mapanga believes the Castle Lager Premiership (PSL) break will benefit struggling teams more than those that have been in top form.

The Premiership new boys have endured a frustrating 12 rounds of matches this far, having won two, drawn three and lost seven.

In the past five matches they lost three, won one and drew one — a goalless draw against Hwange at Rufaro on Sunday.

They remain trapped in the relegation zone as they lie second from the bottom with a paltry nine points.

Their weekend rivals Hwange, who had shown a lot of promise have also endured a spate of dreadful results losing their past five matches before picking a point in the weekend’s goalless draw.

Mapanga said the break, which has been necessitated by the Africa Cup of Nations finals taking place in Egypt from Friday, had come at the right time for them and several other teams struggling in the first half of the season.

“We welcome the PSL break. It’s an advantage for us and other teams that have not been performing well. It gives us the time to correct where we were getting it wrong. It gives us the opportunity to re-evaluate our performance and refuel. We hope to come back stronger than we have been. But for those teams that have been doing well, it’s perhaps not the right time for them to take a break because it disturbs their momentum,” Mapanga said.

The Premiership new boys celebrated after settling for a goalless draw against Hwange at Rufaro on Sunday.

“A point is okay for us given that we are coming from two defeats, even though we are not really satisfied. I thought we could have scored in the first half, but we could not capitalise on the chances we got,” Mapanga said after the match.

Bulawayo Chiefs, who are at the foot of the table with a paltry eight points and Highlanders, are some of the teams that have struggled to find their feet in this first half of the season. Highlanders, however, managed to overcome bitter rivals Dynamos 1-0 last weekend to go to the break a relieved lot.