eBusiness Weekly
Chipo Sabeta
Castle Lager Premier League hopefuls, Ngezi Platinum Stars, have never won a match against Highlanders in Bulawayo and they face their stuttering rivals in a potentially explosive showdown at Barbourfields Stadium this Sunday.
In their debut topflight season in 2016, Ngezi lost 2-1 before they crumbled to a 1-0 defeat last season.
Sunday’s game will also be the moment of truth for Ndiraya who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation candidate Mutare City, dropping them four points behind log leaders FC Platinum.
Bosso are licking their wounds after a 3-2 derby defeat in the hands of Chicken Inn last week.
On Sunday, Highlanders were beaten 2-0 by Dynamos in the inaugural President’s Cup at the National Sports Stadium.
Highlanders coach, Madinda Ndlovu, has branded this Sunday’s clash against the Platinum miners as “a big game against a good opponent”.
In the midst of a poor run of results for Highlanders in which they won two out of their five previous matches, Madinda insisted that his team will be motivated to pick up a positive result on Sunday.
“We are expecting them to arrive wounded in Bulawayo and with the desire to win. They are in the title race and its justified.
“It is a big game against a good opponent, an opponent that last season, in all the two matches we played, they were difficult matches in spite of a win at home. We are out of the title race but we will give them a run. We have to play for our pride as well,”Madinda told Business Weekly Sport.
Bosso should be boosted by the availability of all players and a clean bill of health.
Fullback, Peter Muduwa, who has been on the sidelines due to injury is back in full force.
Promising right-back, Bukhosi Ncube returned to the team for the first time after a three-month injury lay-off.
He last played in Bosso’s 2-1 win over Harare City but Madinda confirmed his availably for the clash.
“This weekend is the moment of truth. We know what a good team they are and we know that they come here with their objectives. It’s a big match and there is no need to work much on the motivational level. They have a natural motivation to play against the good teams.”
Madinda added: “We will be concentrating in drilling ideas into them. Despite a hectic schedule in which we travelled to Harare and played Dynamos at the President’s inauguration, I am not thinking about a lack of days off or anything like that. We are preparing for an opponent who are going to be hard to beat so we need to start on the front foot and collect maximum points.”
Bosso occupy sixth position on the log standings with 36 points, with Madinda admitting that he has thrown the towel for Castle Lager championship title.
This season Highlanders introduced a young side tipped to thrive in the league for a considerable number of years to come.
Last Sunday, Madinda fielded a young back-four comprising of Mbongeni Ndlovu (21), Andrew Kabila Mbeba (18), Bukhosi Ncube (22) and Vincent Moyo (21).
Meanwhile, the Ndiraya-led side who have won two out of five meetings against the Bulawayo giants will be eyeing maximum points.
He knows a win against their great rivals will bring them right into contention for their first Premier League title.
Ndiraya did see any threats for a side that only won twice in their previous 23 matches and with a porous defence that only managed one clean-sheet so far.
Despite trailing four points behind and with 10 games still to play, Ndiraya will be keen for more twist and turns as the league enter finals stretch.
Ndiraya’s men had an explosive start to the campaign in which they went for 14 unbeaten run but it appears to have run out of steam.
On the other hand, Ngezi have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of their uphill task with captain Liberty Chakoroma suspended after accumulating three yellow cards.
After the Highlanders hurdle, Ngezi Platinum Stars will face other tough opponents namely Harare City, ZPC Kariba, CAPS United and FC Platinum.
To their credit as an institution, Ngezi Platinum Stars FC have undergone remarkable transformation since their promotion to the elite league three years ago.
This is largely due to the club’s high level of organisation, professionalism and importantly, unrivalled financial muscle.
They are also sponsored by Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum miner, Zimplats, an Australia Stock Exchange-listed platinum mining group owned by global platinum giant Implats.
