adminGrace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
CAPS United goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube believes the race for the Castle Lager Premiership title is still wide open but feels the Green Machine’s best chance for glory lies in winning the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
Makepekepe are six points behind the leaders and rivals Dynamos in the championship race.
A spell of inconsistent results, in the last four games, has seen them lose the plot again in the marathon.
They have beaten How Mine 1-0, lost 4-1 to Black Mambas, posted a 2-1 victory against Chicken Inn and were beaten 3-1 by Shabanie Mine.
But Dube feels they are still in with a chance to win the title and they will just concentrate on picking points in the remaining matches.
Their next match is against Buffaloes in Mutare at the weekend.
“The race is still on, the top five teams have a chance and we are taking each game as it comes. Chances are there and we will concentrate on picking points,” said Dube.
“Our chances in the league are still 50-50. We cannot really say we have struggled in the past matches as, in the Mambas match, the players were battling fatigue after playing three matches in one week.
“This is the other reason why the coaches had to rest regular players (for the match against How Mine) so that they recover.
“It is a bit difficult to predict which team will win the league. The top three teams are separated by a narrow margin and with way things are going, a team that will not drop any points in the coming matches will have an upper hand.
“The top position keeps changing every week and maybe with two matches remaining there would be a clear indication.”
The veteran goalkeeper said while they are still giving their all in the league, hoping that a swing of results will help their cause, they believe their best hope for success lies in the Mbada Diamonds Cup.
CAPS United will meet How Mine in the semi-finals next weekend at Rufaro. They locked horns again last weekend in a league tie and he former champions won 1-0.
“To be honest in the Mbada Diamonds Cup, our destiny is still in our hands. If we fail we would have failed on our own unlike the league where we can longer do much on our own,” said Dube.
“We are always telling each other, even at training, that what can be ours this season is the Cup. We can reach the final. We are hoping that the team will be playing in the African tournaments next year. One way or the other, be it the Champions League or the Confederation Cup, we have to be playing in the African safari next year,” said Dube.
CAPS United will feel that, against a background of their depressed funding which has caused friction between the players and the leadership, they have done well to remain in the Top Five this season. Club chief executive, Joe Makuvire, said their target at the beginning of the season was to beat the 40-point mark, something which they have managed to do.
Next season, said Makuvire, his team can target league championship honours and they will have noone to blame in the event that they fail.
Online Reporter