USUALLY when the preferred is not available, the available becomes the preferred.
This is the uncomfortable situation football fans find themselves in as the curtain comes down on the 2021-22 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season.
It closes with a Harare derby pitting bitter rivals Dynamos and Caps United who have been very average in terms of performance.
In the years gone by, these were must-attend matches. But the balance of power has been turned on its head. FC Platinum have emerged to be the dominant side in domestic football. Thriving on their phased build-up play, the league’s pass masters have been impressive in a season they won the championship with three games to spare.
That they have won it in four successive seasons provides a graphic illustration of how the mighty have fallen.
With the clash between the old foes coming on the very last day of the league programme, it would have been an intriguing conclusion to the season. But after lacklustre shows by the two Harare giants in what is certainly a season to forget, there is little to expect on Sunday.
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Dynamos, who showed great potential to finally walk to the winners podium for the first time since 2014, ran out of gas towards the end and are currently in third place with 57 points, three behind second-placed Chicken Inn with just one match to go. They have won just two matches from their last five matches and a second-place finish is highly unlikely for the Glamour Boys.
But coach Tonderai Ndiraya has said after failing to get anything out of the season, he wants his charges to end the season on a high with a victory over Caps United. He is buoyed by winning the first instalment of the Harare derby in June.
“We should be up for it. It’s a difficult one. Derbies are always difficult and unpredictable. We will go in there without a favourable result behind us. We are getting in there with a defeat and that puts pressure on us, but it’s the nature of the game, we just have to be strong,” he said.
“We played the first derby and won and it is our hope that we can do well and win this one. You always want to win. Despite being a derby, you always want to win the last game of the season so that you end the season on a high. But it’s a difficult one, I must confess.”
Caps United on their part have struggled for the better part of the season largely due to financial challenges. At one point there were in serious danger of relegation. Although they have put up better performances in recent games, not much is expected when the two giants meet at the weekend.
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