Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THEY might be 15 points off pacesetters MWOS from as many games but the belief that they can still rescue their Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign has not evaporated from the CAPS United dressing room.
The Premiership giants have endured a long and frustrating spell, during which they failed to find their rhythm.
That poor run forced the club leadership to replace coach Lloyd Chitembwe with another ex-CAPS United midfielder Ian Bakala.
The Zambian gaffer, as expected, did not have a flying start to his tenure on his return to the country but he did manage to stabilise the ship.
His style is now in full glare with Makepekepe picking up two wins in their last two games.
And this week, as he did the week before the season commenced, CAPS United president Farai Jere met with the players to remind them about the team’s targets and objectives.
The players are fully aware of that and they responded positively with recent results making them dream again.
Midfielder Kundayi Benyu, scorer of the solitary goal that sealed a rare win over Chicken Inn last Saturday, said the players still believe they can attain their set targets for the season.
“Obviously, I have my own targets here with CAPS United as well.
“We had a meeting at the start of the season where we declared what we want to do for the season.
“I won’t say exactly what it is, but yeah, we want to achieve some things here, I believe, and the players believe that we’re still in contention for that,” said Benyu.
“So now the momentum is with us. A couple of wins, and we’re just hoping to continue.
“Obviously, like I said, the momentum is with us. We are not really focusing on other teams.”
CAPS United’s revival mode faces a huge test when they make the short trip to Norton for a date against unbeaten MWOS at Ngoni.
For 15 games, the Punters are yet to concede defeat and they are proving to be the revelation of the year.
They have already constricted giants Dynamos and Highlanders and a win against Makepekepe will further strengthen their title credentials.
Benyu acknowledges this will be a tough game but reckons that CAPS United will not dwell much on what MWOS have achieved so far as they are more concerned with keeping their own momentum going.
“We mostly concentrate on ourselves and MWOS, whoever they are, we’ve heard, obviously, like you said, they’re unbeaten in the league so far this season,” he said.
“So yeah, it should be a tough game for them as well as it is going to be for us. But yeah, we’re going there with the right mindset and hoping to collect three points.”
The former Celtic midfielder has picked up on a lot of similarities in the management styles of both Chitembwe and Bakala saying “I wouldn’t say too much has changed.
“They (Chitembwe and Bakala) are both good guys. They both know a lot about the game. They’re both very tough in terms of their work ethic, and they demand a lot of quality during training and games as well.
“So not too much has changed, maybe you could say a bit of luck is on our side. Minor changes in tactics and personnel have happened but yeah, things are just finally clicking for us that is what I would say, yeah.”
Benyu believes he still has what it takes to work his way back into the Warriors fold if he continues to work on himself.
“Target, yes, yeah, my target has always been the same. Personally, obviously, I want to get back in the national team, whether it’s for the next coming — I don’t know, friendlies or qualifiers or AFCON, whatever it is, I want to be back in contention for that.
“So, I’m just going to keep pushing and striving for that.”
With Simba Bhora having edged into top spot following their narrow 1-0 win over Bikita Minerals, MWOS will go into battle knowing that victory will help them reclaim their place at the summit.
Simba Bhora now have 32 points, one more than MWOS while both sides have the same goal difference, atleast before the Punters play the game they have in hand.
