Change of approach earns Ngezi title

Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter

IN a way, Ngezi Platinum Stars’ season has been frustrating.

Coach Takesure Chiragwi has sometimes, along the way sounded dejected.

The marathon has not been a smooth ride and it’s been mentally torturing for the pint-sized youthful coach.

The task he had been asked to fulfil has been too hefty.

At times, the former Shabanie Mine gaffer has been uneasy when faced with demanding questions from the media.

He has been trying, all he could, to evade the championship question, that often popped up no-matter his team’s result.

On paper, he has been in the deeper end.

Veteran coaches including Tonderai Ndiraya and Erol Akbay have been there before but none managed to tick the boxes the Ngezi Platinum Stars management expected.

Even the former Warriors captain Benjani Mwaruwari got a chance but the result was the same.

They all fell by the wayside.

Chiragwi feared the worst though he never spoke about it.

Ngezi Platinum Stars management have been pouring huge amounts of investment in this project.

But for all that, they only had a single Chibuku Super Cup won in their maiden season in 2016 in their trophy cabinet.

The Mhondoro team had been making mouthwatering signings including high-profile players like Patson Jaure, Denver Mukamba, Simba Nhivi and Tichaona Mabvura. The list is endless.

They have also gambled on West African talent like Stephen Owusu and Derreck Bonna over the years.

But nothing changed.

They have always longed for the league title.

But it seemed a far-fetched dream.

Then they changed their approach.

They trusted Chiragwi with the process.

And on Saturday, they earned the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title after beating Simba Bhora 2-1 at Baobab.

They even wrapped it up with two games to spare.

“We have decided to give Takesure Chiragwi the job,” said Ngezi Platinum Stars vice-president (technical) Lysias Chiwozva early this year.

“We are confident he will carry and deliver the dream.

“This time around, we are not buying so many big name players. We are looking for home grown talent.

“Chiragwi has been in the system for a long time as an assistant and we believe he understands the philosophy”.

That was masterclass.

For the first time in their seven year-stint, Ngezi Platinum Stars did not break the bank.

They were very economic on the market.

They brought in just three new signings, defender Gareth Madhake, midfielder Malvin Gaki and striker Claude Mapoka.

In previous seasons Ngezi Platinum Stars were taking an average of eight new players at the start of every season and almost the same number every mid-season window.

While taking in Madhake, Gaki and Mapoka, the miners shipped out over eight players including Mukamba, Taderera, Last Jesi and Tendai Matindife among others.

They even sent three others-Tapiwa Sibanda, Wayne Makuva and Ariel Makopa on loan at Triangle as they promoted close to 10 players from their development side, Ngezi Platinum U19 which compete in the Northern Region Division One.

That looked suicidal.

Takunda Benhura, Ellson Mweha and Walter Vuwa among others joined the Premiership team from the nursery side.

But the experiment seemed to be costly as Chiragwi’s men failed to register even a single win in the opening four games of the season.

They were on four points after draws against Bulawayo Chiefs (1-1), CAPS United (0-0), Triangle (0-0) and Herentals (3-3).

They trailed Makepekepe by six points and 2022 champions FC Platinum by five points at that juncture. Then two weeks on, they lost one of their top defenders Carlos Mavhurume to injury which has sidelined the former Herentals player up to now.

“It’s really frustrating,” said Chiragwi then.

“One of my defenders Mavhurume is down with an injury. We are not consistent in the way we are playing. We need to compete”.

Then his youngsters exploded.

Tinotenda Murasiranwa turned into a beast, bullying opponents with remarkable consistency and gave the team the bite they had been missing.

He got solid compliment from Takunda Benhura and all of a sudden, Ngezi Platinum were firing. But again, Murasiranwa suffered a knock from which he has just recovered from and he missed close to 10 games.

Although Benhura kept on scoring, he was no longer as consistent as he had been before Murasiranwa got injured.

Chiragwi turned to his defence for grit.

Madhake and Kudzai Chigwida were reliable in that three-man defence that the gaffer prefers.

The mentor rotated Leslie Kashitigu another of the youngsters from the development side, Farai Madhanaga and Polite Moyo to join Madhake and Chigwida.

At times it worked, sometimes it didn’t.

And Chiragwi recalled defender Makopa from loan.

Everything started to function again but the former Yadah man twisted his ankle two months ago.

He hasn’t kicked a ball since then.

And everything has been nervy.

“We were unfortunate to lose some of our key players at the crucial stages of the marathon. But I salute the guys who have filled the positions. At the end the work ethic helped us.

“The youngsters have been very impressive as we rotated them often. The rotation was meant to get the optimal best out of them,” said Chiragwi.

Benhura is already eyeing the Golden Boot. He, along with Bulawayo Chiefs’ Obriel Chirinda, is topping the scoring charts with 12 goals with only 180 minutes of action before the season comes to an end.

Ngezi have also been impressive in the Chibuku Super Cup and have already booked a final berth against Dynamos on December 3 at Baobab.

The Ngezi veterans have equally been impressive. Goalkeeper Nelson Chadya has been leading the charge with super saves and world class distribution. Chigwida has been solid at the back and on four occasions, he won the points for the team as he has already scored four times.

Captain Qadr Amini has also been pivotal, scoring seven goals and providing four assists.