Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
JOEY Antipas is not a naïve man, he knows that the table does not lie and after his team, Chicken Inn, dropped three points over the weekend, he reluctantly admitted that the GameCocks were chocking but refused to completely rule his side out of the title race.
In a weekend where all the top three sides could not collect maximum points, Chicken Inn, who are third on the log standings, lost to 1-2 to Black Rhinos, second placed Dynamos drew nil all with ZPC Kariba while leaders FC Platinum drew 0-0 against FC Platinum.
FC Platinum have amassed 52 points so far in this campaign while Dynamos and Chicken Inn sit on 46 and 45 points, respectively.
The GameCocks started the season strongly, going on an eight-game unbeaten run, winning six and managing two stalemates.
Things have since gone south and the team has recorded a number of losses and stalemates.
Home defeats to Dynamos and FC Platinum, stalemates against Herentals (0-0), Yadah (1-1) and Manica Diamonds (3-3) at home are some of the
games the GameCocks will look back on and feel they should have done better.
Prior to their defeat to Black Rhinos at the weekend, Chicken Inn appeared to have found their gear following back to back victories against Harare City in the league and Chibuku Super Cup.
The gap between the GameCocks and FC Platinum is now seven points with nine games still to be played. Antipas believes his side is still in it despite the inconsistency by his side all season.
“We continue to lose games and we are slipping away from the title race, you could say. We have had opportunities that we have not taken largely because we have been inconsistent all season.
“However, we will try to push and get back into the equation.
“We have the pedigree to bounce back and my hope is that we will be able to forget about our last game and focus on the next one,” said Antipas.
On his side’s recent defeat to Black Rhinos, Antipas said: “No sour grapes, but that pitch is bad. It’s a potato field.
“We are not a side that plays the long ball and as a result we struggled. I admit, it’s our standards in the country that we couldn’t play our normal passing game.
“It was difficult for us, the ball continuously took some awkward bounces hence the two goals we conceded.
“It’s not all about trying to seek excuses but this is not an ideal pitch for PSL games,” said Antipas.
At the tail end of the table, anchors Whawha found the going tough against Triangle losing two nil in the process.
Genius Mutungamiri struck a brace to hand Bulawayo City their sixth win of the season. The victory over Yadah saw Amakhosi continue with their fight for survival.
The win saw Amakhosi shift one position up to 15th on the log with 24 points.
Mutungamiri handed City the lead in the 42nd minute and doubled his team’s lead in the 69th minute.
— @innocentskizoe
Online Reporter