BY HENRY MHARA FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza has admitted his side has no margin for error in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race which has entered the home stretch.
The log leaders, who are seeking their fourth straight league title, were held to a goalless draw by Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Sunday.
The result means the Zvishavane-based side is still top of the table, through the lead has been cut to just two points by second-placed Chicken Inn, who beat Bulawayo Chiefs 3-1 on the same day.
Dynamos are on third position, eight points behind FC Platinum.
With 13 matches to go, it will take just a few slip ups by the leading teams to throw the race wide open again.
Mapeza is aware Chicken Inn and Dynamos are breathing down their necks and has acknowledged his side can ill afford to drop more points in the remaining matches — starting with a home match against ZPC Kariba at the weekend — if they are to fend off the challenge of main title rivals.
FC Platinum, who were looking to make it eight straight league wins, were uncharacteristically disjointed in their match at the weekend and were lucky to escape with a point.
The former Warriors coach was frank enough to concede his side had actually gained a point rather than dropping two against DeMbare.
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“We gained a massive point and we are now putting focus on the ZPC Kariba game. It’s a marathon, now it’s 13 kilometres to go so it’s now kilometre by kilometre . . . taking each game-by-game as we move forward,” Mapeza said.
FC Platinum will be hoping to beat ZPC Kariba on Saturday and pray that Chicken Inn and Dynamos cancel each other when the two meet the following day in Bulawayo.
Dynamos are hanging on in the title race and cannot afford to drop any point this weekend.
Failure to beat Chicken Inn, the Tonderai Ndiraya-coached side will effectively be out of the title race.
The weekend draw was the fourth game in a row where Dynamos have failed to collect maximum points.
But Ndiraya was happy with the way his men performed against the defending champions which they dominated for the larger parts of the match.
“We managed to match a team that is good, which put us on another level. We showed that we are not a bad side despite going through some difficult moments. Matching the champions the way we did, I’m really happy for the players for the shift that they put up,” Ndiraya said.
“But again we continue to mourn about the chances that we missed. We created some good chances that we could have scored, but we couldn’t, but that is football. We will keep working and see what happens in the next few weeks.”
Ndiraya once again lamented his toiling strikers’ troubles in front of goal after they, for the fourth time, fired blanks.
He indicated his desire to sign a prolific goalscorer during this mid-season player transfer window which opened on July 1, but said he can’t find one in the market.
“If you show me a striker who can score goals week-in and out, why not. We will go for him. But the question is: do we have that striker at the moment? It’s a national problem. We want someone who can score goals every week. If you look at the top goalscorers you will realise that (William) Manondo is not even a centre forward. That really paints the whole picture about the strikers we have in the country. But if we get one we can afford and is willing to play for us, then why not go for that player? But this is mid-season transfer window, and which team would really want to sell their best player or their top marksman? So we are in a catch 22 situation, but if there is a striker who is available we can go for, we will go for him. We still have some bit of time to make a decision so we will make those decisions,” Ndiraya added.
Match day 22 fixtures
Friday: Herentals v WhaWha (National Sports Stadium)
Saturday: Cranborne Bullets v Harare City (Vengere), Fc Platinum v Zpc Kariba (Mandava), Chicken Inn v Dynamos (Barbourfields), Yadah v Ngezi Platinum Stars (National Sports Stadium)
Sunday: Highlanders v Bulawayo City (Barbourfields), Caps United v Manica Diamonds (National Sports Stadium), Triangle v Black Rhinos (Gibbo), Tenax v Bulawayo Chiefs (Vengere)
- Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymhara
