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Tadious Manyepo
Sports Reporter
ZPC Kariba have lived in the extremes and been hanging on the cliff.
The Newton Chitehwe side will on Saturday give champions Simba Bhora a guard of honour at Nyamhunga where the latter will be crowned after their last match of the season.
While the Shamva team will fight to increase their points tally to 69 and gloss up their coronation, ZPC Kariba is virtually safe due to a better goal difference compared to Hwange and Bikita Minerals, who might catch them on points.
It will take huge scorelines from Wadzanai and Nyamhunga for ZPC Kariba to find themselves in trouble.
It would have been a shame if they had ended up sliding on the decisive weekend of the term when they have erected the best defence in the league.
It would have been a shame if they got demoted after transforming themselves remarkably from being the worst defence in the league last season to being on top of the standings in the same regard this time around.
They conceded the most number of goals (48) in the league last season while they were the ninth-best scorers after netting 27 in the same period.
But they have erected the tallest defensive wall in the league this season after conceding just 18 goals before the final round of fixtures this weekend.
They have the most number of clean sheets (20) this season underlining just how solid they have been as a defensive unit.
While they have been tight at the back, they have been blunt in attack where they have scored the least number of goals (16) in the entire league after 33 games.
Their top scorer, Stanley Ngala has a measly three goals in 33 games while Leeroy Murape and Fanuel Shoko have two goals each with Samuel Makawa, Nyasha Gurende, Tanaka Makaripe, Collen Muleya, Clive Dzingai, Migos Svinurai, Ian Sibelo and Tellmore Pio have contributed a goal each.
It is captain Boid Mutukure who has stood firm, playing every second of the 33 games without receiving even a single yellow card.
He is the only player who has been ever present in every game that ZPC Kariba have played this term, providing four assists, which translates to 25 percent of the entire goals scored by the 2014 league runners-up.
“As the captain of the team, I am very happy to have been part of the defence that has shut out opponents in 20 games,” said Mutukure.
“I am certainly excited that I have been involved in all the games and it will go down in history as well.
“I think we have done so well and in recent history, I think we are the first team to keep 20 clean sheets which I hope will extend to 21 on Saturday.
“We will work as a team to try and get goals on Saturday against Simba Bhora and make sure we stay safe from the relegation matrix.”
Mutukure has since triggered a stampede across the league with big teams like Dynamos and CAPS United all understood to be chasing after his signature.
He has been one of the most stand-out players in the league this season.
Online Reporter