DREAM AXIS FINAL

Bruce Chikuni

IT’S a final only the football gods could have scripted.

Simba Bhora versus Golden Eagles.

The champions versus the club which badly wanted to be champions.

Football focus in Harare will be on the Axis Solutions Super8 Cup final at Rufaro tomorrow.

Fans got value for money the last time the two sides met in the ZIFA Northern Region Division One League.

It was probably the match of the season as very little separated the two sides.

The huge fan turnout was the envy of many PSL clubs, which only attract paltry attendances.

The ZIFA Northern Region leaders have done enough to convince sponsors to lure artists to perform in the final.

Suluman Chimbetu, Baba Harare, Hwinza, Ras Caleb, DJ Ribhe, Ndunge Yut, DJ Fantan and Levels are among confirmed artists who will perform before and after the match.

Newly-crowned league champions, Simba Bhora, have the chance of claiming a League and Cup double, should they get the better of Eagles.

Tinashe Balakasi, who won the league’s Golden Boot after netting 29 times, is also on course to win the tournament’s Top Goal Scorer award.

Golden Eagles skipper, Henry Manatsa, said they were going to continue from where they left off, in their previous meeting.

“We lost to Simba Bhora on the opening day of the season, but there’s no denying that we dominated the reverse fixture.

“We are going to pick up from where we left and we are more determined to go a step higher for the fans. “The coach has challenged us to play our hearts out on Saturday.

“We have been preparing well, and we are confident of victory.”

He, however, conceded that they were under pressure to finish the season with silverware.

“We want to win the Axis Cup and end the season with, at least, some silverware for our fans.

“There’s always pressure, but as a team, we work better under such circumstances,” he said.

Manatsa is also a contender for the individual best prize, having won a man-of-the-match award during the early stages of the tournament.

The late Barnabas Mushunje is likely to be honoured as the competition’s best player.

Before his untimely passing, he had won two Man-of-the-Match awards, which makes him the best candidate for the accolade.