D1 war in Rusape

The dice is cast!Vengere Stadium in Rusape will play host to the mother of all battles when the Eastern Region Division One top-of-the-table clash pitting log leaders Dongo Sawmills and Mutare City Rovers gets underway on Sunday.

The match starts at 3pm.

Although there will be two more rounds of league matches remaining after Sunday’s explosive clash, the result of the duel pitting the two title-chasing clubs is likely to decide the destiny of the 2014 Eastern Region championship race.

With all the ingredients of a thriller in place, both teams will obviously troop into Vengere with nothing less than maximum points on their minds.

Currently championship favourites Dongo Sawmills and Mutare City Roversare separated by a solitary point.

Shadreck “Father” Mugurasave, who will be barking instructions from the touchline in search of his second Eastern Region Division One title in his coaching career, reckons that it will not be an easy match that can go either way.

“It is a 50-50 situation. The better team, or maybe the luckier one, will win it. We are preparing for it just like any other match we have played before,” he said.

The former Buffaloes defender said playing at home would give them an edge over their opponents, but it would not guarantee them triumph.

“Yes, we will be playing at home and naturally we will have that home advantage over our opponents. However, that will not give us good results on a silver platter. We will have to sweat for the result that we want,” he added.

Mugurasave urged players, coaches and fans to respect the referee’s decisions while exhorting the match officials to maintain high standards of professionalism.

“I think this is one game with the potential to see emotions prevailing over reason. As a club, we humbly urge players, coaches and fans to respect referee’s decisions and at the same time we sincerely hope that the match officials will let those who deserve to win the match, win it,” he said.

His opposite number, Kenny “Bokande” Kachara, also believes Sunday’s match will not be a stroll in the park.

“It will not be an easy thing. We are preparing for it with the hope of winning. The boys understand what it means for them to win that match,” he said.

Bokande, who has helped Rovers revive a championship campaign that almost went off-track under Joseph “Shabba” Takaringofa, is not reading too much into the fact that his team will be playing away from home.

“That we are playing away from home is added advantage for us. It is an advantage for us because we have been performing better while playing away from home,” said the City Rovers coach, who instilled a culture of winning games for the club.

Under his tenure, Rovers have dropped five points only from one defeat and one draw.

In a separate interview, Zifa Eastern Region general manager Tedious Machawira said the identity of the referees who will officiate in the match will remain a secret.

“We have decided to keep the identity of the referees as a secret. We want to avoid a situation whereby we put the referees under unnecessary pressure before the match. This is also expected to minimise chances of bribery.

“Through our board members resident in areas near Rusape we have also instructed that security should be tight because history has shown that violence ends up marring when emotions run high,” Machawira said.