adminthe match 2-0 courtesy of second half goals from Cliff Sekete and William Manondo to rise into the top half of the table.
But as Gunners celebrated their recovery with a second victory in succession, CAPS were left once again in deep soul-searching.
The Green Machine have not won a match in four starts and pressure is now mounting on the management team of Sean Connor and Lloyd Chitembwe.
It might be early in the season, but this has not been a healthy start for a club of CAPS United’s stature.
And alarm bells should be ringing louder in the camp with some of the club’s supporters becoming increasingly disillusioned by the inflated technical team and already calling for a reshuffle because of the lack of positive results. The club’s bosses however have thrown their weight on the coaching department. CAPS United have the largest technical side in the Premiership which also includes assistant coach Kennedy Nagoli, Joel Luphahla, Brenna Msiska and Richard Tswatswa but their combined efforts have not yielded much so far.
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They have set themselves an ambitious target to fight for the title this season but their start has not been impressive.
In five games, CAPS United have lost twice and drew as many games with their only win to date having come via the boardroom following a walkover against Motor Action.
On Sunday, just like in the majority of the games they have played so far, Makepekepe dominated play especially in the first half but the goals would not come.
They created chances with Evans Gwekwerere and Clive Kawinga asking a lot of questions to the hosts’ defence and after 360 minutes of play this season CAPS United are still to get a goal in open play.
Gunners coach Madira said they had prepared well for the Green Machine.
“We knew that CAPS were going to attack because they were desperate for a win. But we had our game plan in place and we played more defensively because we wanted to catch them on the counter-attack.
“CAPS United are a good team and I think they pressed us hard in the midfield and that is why we struggled in the opening 45 minutes.
“We were also giving too much room to (Evans) Gwekwerere and Charles Chiutsa but we closed them down in the second half and our game plan worked,” said Madira.
Just like CAPS United, Gunners had also had a tough beginning this year and Madira believes the side is now on the rise after getting their first win in their fourth game against Monomotapa and now beating CAPS United.
“It was difficult at first because the team couldn’t gel. We had a number of new players coming into the system, some of whom like Valentine Ndaba, Willard Gondo and Justice Jangano, have not played in the Premiership before, and others coming from other teams.
“But the players are learning each other’s play fast and combinations are now coming up. Beating a big team like CAPS United would certainly be a big morale-booster,” said Madira. Former champions Motor Action were also on the upward movement after overturning a two-goal first half deficit to beat Blue Rangers at their Sports Club on Saturday. Gift Phiri, Blessing Chimwamuchere and a penalty by Morris Kadzola saved the day for the Mighty Bulls after their former player Tawanda Ushe had put Blue Ribbon ahead early in the first half.
This was Rangers’ fourth defeat in as many games and they remain rooted at the bottom without a point while Motor Action moved into the top three with 10 points.
“We got ourselves into the ditch and we fought hard to come out of it,” said Motor Action coach Joey Antipas.
“Rangers are a difficult side because they have a lot of experienced players. We still have a lot to do. Our team played well but I believe we can do better than that.”
Chicken Inn remained at the top despite dropping points in a 1-1 home draw against FC Platinum at Luveve while Shabanie Mine recovered from last week’s defeat to win 1-0 against Hardbody. Shabanie are tied on 11 points with FC Platinum.
Online Reporter