Relegation candidates seek stress relief in Chibuku sip

By The NewsDay | Aug. 20, 2022 | 2 Min read

The GameCocks, who beat the Sunshine Boys in a league match last week, host the Taurai Mangwiro-coached side once again this afternoon, while the Ninjas take on the power utility side tomorrow after edging them last weekend in a league tie.

BY FORTUNE MBELE HARARE City and ZPC Kariba both return to Bulawayo this weekend where they face Chicken Inn and Bulawayo Chiefs respectively in the first round of the Chibuku Super Cup with both games being played at Luveve Stadium.

Chicken Inn gaffer Joey Antipas believes the win last week after a slump in the league gave his boys confidence.

“We are playing back-to-back (against Harare City) and I know it is going to be tricky but the good thing is that the win upped us in a long way as we have talked about confidence; it’s all about confidence and football is about confidence. If players come out there in a confident mode, things can happen. If you look at our last five games, three defeats, one win against Harare City, one win against Chiefs and a draw to ZPC Kariba. We are hoping that we can turn things around and go back to our winning ways,” Antipas said.

Mangwiro is seeking comfort in playing well in the cup tournament following a dismal performance in the league.

“It is a different competition altogether and over the years Harare City have done well in that competition and we hope to get some solace having fared poorly in the league; Four consistent games, we are in the final and we could win the trophy. The league has a bumpy marathon and now we are in the drop zone and now we need to rescue the ship from sinking,” Mangwiro said.

Last week, Mangwiro bemoaned player exodus for his side’s poor form.

Bulawayo Chiefs’ mentor Nilton Terroso said the win last weekend against ZPC Kariba had no bearing on tomorrow’s game.

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“The only thing we should concern ourselves with is winning the game and in that case we would have eliminated the first round and move on to the second. If we think further ahead we will be making a huge mistake for two reasons; first we can’t underestimate ZPC Kariba, what happened in the last game means absolutely nothing to this one and I expect it to be different and in the end like I said it is still very early. We need to respect the opponent and the competition,” Terroso said.

ZPC Kariba, coached by Rodwell Dhlakama crept into the first round after beating Bulawayo City in the preliminary round at Mandava Stadium a fortnight ago and have not been doing well in the league competition. Ahead of this match Dhlakama raised concern over the long distance his team has travelled of late.