Chapungu lays down the marker in Central Region

FORMER premiership side Chapungu powered to the summit of the Central Region Soccer League in emphatic fashion, dismissing ZRP Gwanda 4-0 at Ascot Stadium on Sunday.

The Air Force of Zimbabwe side got their goals from Believe Mudzangwe, Divine Sibanda and a brace from Edward ‘Kariba’ Watson.

Chapungu are now top of the log standings with seven points from three matches, but have a superior goal difference to second-placed Shabanie Mine, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Blanket Mine at Maglas Stadium.

The highlight of the week was the return to action of Chapungu talisman Watson, who has now scored three goals in his last two matches after getting a goal for the Gweru side in mid-week against Vhembe Stars Academy.

Watson, the 2024 Central Region Soccer League player of the year, has been sidelined by injury since September 2024.

By the time he got injured in September 2024, Watson had scored 15 goals and was in line to reach the 20-goal mark.
He, however, went on to finish as the top goal scorer and was subsequently crowned the player of the year that season.

The injury was so bad that Watson missed the rest of last season; however, the 29-year-old is back and it feels like he never left.

This season, he has already notched up three goals in three appearances.

“It has been a difficult path back to recovery,” Watson reflected.

“But I have always been a hard worker; all this is a result of working hard and having a positive mind. It is not easy to be on the sidelines for such a long time and still come back and score goals.

“The idea is to score as many games as possible for the team because the team comes first; after that, we will see where the goals can take us.”

Elsewhere, Gwanda Pirates picked their first win of the season with a 1-0 win against Kwekwe United in a tightly contested match at Baghdad Stadium.

The win lifted the Johannes Ngodzo-coached side to eighth place on the log standings, two points adrift of the leaders.

Weekend results
Dulibadzimu 0-1 Good Morning, West Nicholson 1-1 Supper Strikers, Tongogara 2-1 FC Platinum U19, Shurugwi FC 0-1 MSU, Sabi Gold Mine 2-1 Vhembe, Shabanie 1-1 Blanket Mine, Kwekwe United 0-1 Gwanda Pirates, Matobo 0-3 Grain Tigers.