adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
A POTENTIALLY-exciting encounter could be on the cards this afternoon when Chicken Inn take on Midlands giants FC Platinum in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match set for White City Stadium.
It’s a match that will also bring to the fore, the two coaches, Rahman Gumbo and Norman Mapeza’s technical shrewdness.
They are both championship winning coaches.
Chicken Inn welcome back their talisman Obadiah Tarumbwa who missed last week’s 1-1 away draw with Harare City due to suspension and his presence will instil some confidence in the home side’s squad.
FC Platinum have had fruitful visits to the City of Kings this season with their most successful hunt being the 2-1 defeat of Highlanders but that match was at Barbourfields Stadium, a pitch that allows for free flowing football, exactly what Mapeza wants. This time though, the match is set for an uneven White City.
Both teams seem compact in midfield where Chicken Inn have the ageless Clemence Matawu and enforcer Thabani Goredema while the visitors will look to one of the most underrated but highly effective midfielders in the country, Winston Mhango, who has the potential of dismantling any opposition midfield single-handedly.
At the back, Rahman Gumbo has the ever reliable Teenage Hadebe who is maturing with each passing game and can be deadly when he gets into the opposition box, especially during set pieces.
It is probably high time the duo of Darlyn Nyandoro and Chris Samakweri justified why the club hurriedly registered them before the Highlanders game which they won 2-0.
The Gamecocks will jump to sixth place from their present 10th position if they manage to post a positive result this afternoon while Kugona Kunenge Kudada can find themselves on top of the table with a win or draw.
derick.khumalo