Bubbling Chiragwi on the prowl

Eddie Chikamhi, Zimpapers Sports Hub

NGEZI Platinum Stars coach Takesure Chiragwi will walk onto the Rufaro Stadium turf to face giants CAPS United with his head high after he was voted the first winner of the 2025 season Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, Coach of the Month accolade.

Chiragwi was named along with TelOne striker Washington Navaya, who was crowned the March Player of the Month for his brilliant run of form which saw him banging four goals in as many games, to top the goal-scoring charts at this stage.

His goals have helped the modest Gweru-based side punch above their weight, winning two and drawing one of their opening four matches.

But it is Chiragwi, the 2023 Coach of the Year, who has drawn the limelight to himself again after a solid start with Ngezi Platinum Stars.

The Mhondoro side currently lead the log table and are one of the only four teams yet to taste defeat this campaign.

In fact, Ngezi Platinum Stars recovered from a disappointing 1-1 draw against newcomers Kwekwe United in the season-opening match and went on a three-match winning streak.

They claimed identical 1-0 wins over GreenFuel, Scottland and Triangle.

Chiragwi’s 2023 champions should still be harbouring feel-good memories of Rufaro ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Makepekepe.

The last time they were in the capital before the FIFA international break Chiragwi’s men were full value for their money as they silenced debutants and league moneybags Scottland with a spirited performance that ended in victory for them.

The March Coach of the Month accolade is likely to add fuel the already jazzed up platinum miners’ camp, where players like Kudzai Chigwida, Leslie Kashitigu, Nyasha Gurende, Warriors midfielder Richard Hachiro, Farai Madhanhanga, Malvin Gaki, Talent Chamboko, Ashwin Karengesha and Obriel Chirinda have been on top of their game.

But giants CAPS United are adamant the 2023 champions will not get an easy stroll in the park. Makepekepe have had a poor start to the season after winning only one, drawing once and suffering two defeats, including last week’s 0-1 loss to TelOne, thanks to Navaya’s strike.

CAPS United assistant coach Tonderai Marume said it was time the Green Machine got their campaign back in the right track.

“After last weekend’s game, we made an analysis of how we have played so far from the beginning of the season up to now. What we concluded is, we feel we are punching below our weight.

“Of course, we are disappointed after the weekend’s result because the result is not a true reflection of the game,” said Marume.

“But this is CAPS United, the expectation is always to perform at the top level and we are all aware of that. The element of awareness has crept into everyone, the technical team, the players, and I also think the CAPS United family.

“We have seen some good response in training. I can see everyone is geared up and we are prepared for the weekend’s game to turn the tables around.

“Without any disrespect to Ngezi Platinum, they have been doing well. They are on top of the log, but we have played against other teams that were also on top of the log and managed to get results.

“The way we have prepared; we are confident that we can turn things around starting this game.”

CAPS United kicked off their season with a 1-1 draw away to GreenFuel. They then plunged to a 0-2 defeat to Scottland, before recovering to beat Triangle by the same scoreline away in the Lowveld.

They were away again when they lost 0-1 to TelOne last week at Bata. Marume welcomed the return to Rufaro where they expect to leverage home comforts.

They also expect better performances from their players like Juan Mutudza, Jayden Bakari, Junior Bunjira, Nyasha Chintuli, Eric Manokore, Bruce Kangwa, Phineas Bamusi, Kundai Benyu and Tanaka Shandirwa.

“Looking at the games that we have played and the points that we have, like I said at the beginning, we are punching below our weight and we have realised that and we need to start playing at the level that we are expected to play at,” said Marume.

“Unlike the previous season, this season we obviously have a squad with a lot of depth and what we do is we look at how players are performing, both in training and in previous games.

“If a player is underperforming, then another one performs well in training, obviously, there is no reason why we should not play a player who is doing well in training.

“Due to the depth in our squad, we are at liberty to make some changes if other players are underperforming.

“The strong point that we have is that we have our own way of playing and we will play the way we train.

“We always stress to our players that in every training, in every game, in everything that we do, we always do it with a high-performance mindset and this is one game where players are expected to play with that mentality,” Marume said.