BY COURAGE NYAYA Cranborne Bullets coach Nesbert “Yabo” Saruchera is hoping that his charges will rekindle their winning streak when they play Triangle at Gibbo Stadium on Sunday.
The army side, after a poor start to the season, has been flying high in recent weeks, but they were brought down to earth by Yadah on Friday, losing 1-0 in Mutare.
It is the manner in which their unbeaten run was brought to an end that left the promoted side with a bitter taste in their mouth.
Yadah got the winner through a penalty, which the army side claims was dubious.
Saruchera is hopeful that his players have recovered from the controversial defeat as they look to continue with their movement up the premier league log standings.
“We are looking forward to that encounter hoping to bring home a positive result,” Saruchera said.
“We lost through a penalty, and only God knows whether it was genuine or not. We did not play the way we wanted as well, and we are hoping to bounce back quickly.”
Cranborne struggled in their opening seven matches of the campaign where they failed to win a single match, losing five and drawing two.
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As alarm bells were starting to ring loud in their camp, they managed to hold title-chasing Manica Diamonds to a 1-1 draw at the end of March.
That proved to be their turning point as they went on to record their first win the following week with a 3-2 win away to WhaWha.
They followed that up with a 2-1 win over Bulawayo City. Saruchera’s men blew a two-goals lead against Highlanders to draw 2-2 with the Bulawayo giants in a match they could have easily won.
Successive wins over Herentals and Caps United saw them moving out of the relegation zone with 16 points, two above a team occupying the drop zone cut-off point.
“Our target is to keep our position in the league and definitely we are going to achieve that,” Saruchera vowed.
“We have a lot of youngsters in the team who have massive potential and seniors have been giving them guidance, so we are good.”
Saruchera knows that a trip to Gibbo presents his side with a very tough test.
The third-placed Triangle are yet to lose a game at home this season, winning four and drawing two.
They will look at this fixture as a chance for them to bounce back from their draw against Tenax last week.
The Sugar Boys had to come from behind to force a 1-1 draw last week, which was their second draw in a row after they recorded the same scoreline against Yadah a fortnight ago.
The four points dropped in the last two matches saw them losing grip in the title race and now trail log leaders Dynamos by five points after 14 rounds of matches.
Week 14 fixtures
Friday: Yadah v FC Platinum (National Sports Stadium)
Saturday: Ngezi Platinum Stars v Tenax CS (Baobab), Herentals v Bulawayo Chiefs (National Sports Stadium), Bulawayo City v ZPC Kariba (Barbourfields), WhaWha v Harare City (Ascot)
Sunday: Caps United v Chicken Inn (National Sports Stadium), Highlanders v Dynamos (Barbourfields), Manica Diamonds v Black Rhinos (Sakubva), Triangle United v Cranborne Bullets (Gibbo)
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