adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
BINDURA United secretary-general Elias Banda says they are happy with the strides they made after their return to the World Navi Northern Region Division One soccer league this year.
Bindura United, who had been a dormant franchise for years, burst into Division One just a year after the club was revived as a Division Two team.
The team was resuscitated last year after spending 11 years in the wilderness and managed to shake off the challenge of several contenders to win the ticket into Division One.
“Our idea was just to come in and avoid relegation and then see what happens. We are satisfied with the way we progressed,” said Banda.
“There was no way we could get promoted and proceed to the Premier League, though we discovered that it was possible during the season.
“It’s only that we had difficulties in finances; we faced monetary problems, but overall we are satisfied with the team’s performance. We were on top of the log for about six weeks and then we faced financial difficulties. We had some of our senior players not coming for some of the games, especially our game against Karoi United.
“We went there without four senior players we were banking on. We lost to Lake Harvest at home without the same players and that’s where we experienced challenges.
“If we had not faced financial problems, we would have been promoted because if we look at the five big clubs in the league — ZRP Football Club, Flame Lilly, Gunners, Mushowani Stars and Ngezi Platinum — we did well against them.”
Banda said the departure of their assistant coaches Zacks Kataya and Collin Chawasarira as well as team manager Tedius Nsalapi was also due to financial constraints.
“Wilo has been given the task to appoint an assistant coach.
“He is employed at a local mine and sometimes he failed to attend training in time. But by the beginning of next season, we will have a full technical team,” Banda said.
Online Reporter