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Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
FROM a total of 306 matches that were played in the just concluded 201/2022 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season, Delta Beverages marketing director Irimayi Muzorewa revealed at a Soccer Stars banquet that was held in the capital last Friday that 116 games were televised by Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).
“It was a very good season after a three-year absence of football due to Covid-19. The game was brought back to the people after Covid-19 forced us to change our habits. It was a season where we had 306 matches, 594 goals and 116 matches were televised by ZTN. The media has been friendly to us as a football family,” said Muzorewa.
PSL chairman Farai Jere underscored that while they were still trying to find their footing after Covid-19 challenges, radio commentary of football matches was needed back.
“We hope to see football supporters come in huge numbers. We needed those full houses back and also radio commentary is needed back to help us see more fans coming back. We are missing the voices of renowned radio football commentators that include Charles Mabika and Archie Mundava,” said Jere.
He added that the Chibuku Super Cup final tie that was played by Bulawayo Chiefs and Herentals was a rare mouthwatering match.
Chiefs won the match 1-0 in the final of the country’s prestigious knockout tournament that produced a total of 24 goals in open play.
The league race produced 254 goals in the first half while 330 were recorded in the second stanza of the campaign.
Of the 594 goals, 12 were alluded to own goals while six were boardroom goals.
It was a season that saw Caps United’s William Manondo scoop the Golden Boot Award with 17 goals under his belt, in a stellar performance that saw him outdo a total of 182 scorers in the league in this campaign.
Manondo, Walter Musona (FC Platinum) Delic Murimba (Ngezi Platinum), Eli Ilanga (Black Rhinos), Brian Muza (Chicken Inn), Lynoth Chikuhwa (Highlanders), Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya (FC Platinum) and Emmanuel Paga (Dynamos) were the eight players out of 182 scorers that managed to get to double digits.
Of the eight players cited, five, Manondo, Musona, Muza, Ilanga, Murimba were voted among the country’s eleven Soccer Stars of the Year.
Twenty-three players concluded the season on a goal bracket of between five and nine while 151 footie stars fell on a bracket of between one strike and four strikes.
Eventual title winners FC Platinum, who have done it four times on the trot, scored the most goals (52) and conceded the least (14) to finish on a +38 goal difference.
After letting in 17 goals, Dynamos who finished on position three, 17 points behind Pure Platinum Play and five points adrift from first runners up Chicken Inn, proved to be the second team with a mean rearguard.
After picking the ball 63 times from the back of the net, Whawha had the most porous backline. They were followed by Tenax CS who conceded 55 times. Bulawayo City let in 42 goals while Harare City had their defensive line breached on 32 occasions.
It was no wonder that the four above-mentioned clubs were relegated to the lower division of Zimbabwean football paving way for new boys Sheasham, Simba Bhora, Hwange and Green Fuel. — Twitter@FungaiMuderere
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