adminMzingaye Sibanda Sports Reporter
THREE teams in the Zifa Southern Region Division One have failed to fulfil their weekend fixtures as the race in the league draws to a close. The battle for a Premiership spot is still wide open but what is disturbing is the number of teams that are getting points without kicking a ball.
Former Premiership club Quelaton, Rufaro and Mkhosana failed to fulfil their weekend fixtures leading to teams that they were supposed to play against getting three points on a 3-0 score line.
Quelaton were supposed to be at home to Bantu Rovers at Luveve but failed to raise a team as only seven players turned up for the match.
In an interview yesterday, Quelaton’s coach Farai Tawachera said they had a depleted squad as six players went with Mpopoma to the Nash Under-20 soccer finals in Harare while four were with Zimpost participating in a regional tournament in Zambia.
“We suffered an injury crisis when we went to Mpumalanga and most of our players are school pupils so they went with Mpopoma which was participating in the Nash finals in Harare. The other players could not be released as they were preparing to travel to Zambia with Zimpost,” said Tawachera.
Bottom of the log Rufaro Rovers were walked over in their home town Hwange, after failing to raise funds to pay match officials and security officers for their game against police outfit Black Boots who had travelled to the coal mining town.
Black Boots remained two points behind log leaders Bulawayo Chiefs with 54 points.
Thulani “Thuts” Sibanda marked his return to Bulawayo Chiefs with a 2-0 win against Zimbabwe Saints and in the process took his team’s points tally to 56. Bulawayo Chiefs went into the game smarting from a 0-4 defeat to Black Boots.
The log leaders got their goals from on-loan Highlanders forward Cleopas “Balotelli” Dube and former Young Warriors midfielder Proud Zereni.
Bulawayo Chiefs assistant coach Nkosiyazi Ncube said their target was to win all the remaining games.
Ntabazinduna Prison thrashed Bulawayo Jumbos 3-0 while New West lost by a similar score line to Technosphere.
Results
Technosphere 3, New West 0; Mpumalanga 2, Hwange Juniors 1; Bulawayo Chief 2, Zimbabwe Saints 1 Tsholotsho 0, Ajax Hotspurs 3; Ntabazinduna 3, Bulawayo Jumbos 0; ZPC Hwange 3, Mkhosana 0; Bantu Rovers 3, Quelaton 0; Rufaro Rovers 0, Black Boots 3.
Log Standings
P W D L F A PTS
Bulawayo Chiefs 26 18 2 6 38 17 56
Black Boots 26 15 9 2 44 16 54
Bantu Rovers 26 15 3 8 29 16 48
Technosphere 26 13 4 9 36 24 43
New West 26 12 6 8 32 29 42
Tsholotsho 26 11 6 9 29 24 39
Zim Saints 26 11 5 10 30 27 38
Mpumalanga 26 10 7 9 29 28 37
ZPC Hwange 25 10 6 9 38 28 36
Quelaton 26 11 3 12 31 34 36
Hwange Juniors 26 9 8 9 26 22 35
Ntabazinduna 26 8 7 11 19 18 31
Bulawayo Jumbos 26 7 7 12 19 34 28
Mkosana 26 7 3 16 18 47 24
Ajax Hotspurs 25 6 1 18 19 41 19
Rufaro Rovers 26 3 5 18 13 45 14
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