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Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter
DEFENDING champions FC Platinum are just unstoppable.
They have swept all before them in the last two months. And, on Sunday, they claimed a routine 1-0 win against bogey side Bulawayo Chiefs to open a five-point lead at the top of the Castle Lager Premiership football table.
The platinum miners have been so dominant after winning their last seven games in succession, with a touch of perfection.
They plundered 16 goals and conceded none during this remarkable run.
The winning streak is likely to be difficult to break, with the momentum they have gathered at the moment. Norman Mapeza’s team have been getting their goals from everywhere, with defenders, midfielders and strikers all finding their names on the score-sheet.
Central defender Lawrence Mhlanga joined the party on Sunday with a late winner against a resilient Bulawayo Chiefs at their Mandava home ground.
“The guys have been working hard and it’s always great when you have a bunch of players who are willing to work and sacrifice everything to win football matches.
“It’s very encouraging, especially for me as a coach. I am happy with the attitude and the desire to win games,” said Mapeza before the encounter.
The platinum miners have now taken control of the Premiership championship race after extending the gap between them and nearest rivals Chicken Inn to five points at the top.
Mapeza might have continuously refused to be drawn into the title talk but results on the ground show that FC Platinum are currently in good space.
Statistics indicate that they have had a massive transformation after embarking on a rebuilding exercise that saw a host of senior players being replaced by younger players.
At the start of the project they experienced a dip in their fortunes and at some point, on returning from the AFCON break, they managed a single win in a run of seven games.
They have been patient and considering the inconsistencies by their rivals in the race, FC Platinum have suddenly revived their hopes as favourites to win a straight fourth title. But Mapeza sees some of these suppositions as some kind of unnecessary destruction.
“We are not thinking much about that,” he said.
“I think I said it last week in Bulawayo that what is important is to keep giving these youngsters a chance. Our main priority at the moment is developing these youngsters.
“As for the league championship, we will keep pushing and we will keep trying to win our matches and then we will see what happens, come the end of the season,” said Mapeza.
“But we are not putting ourselves under pressure because of where we are at the moment. Our main focus is to keep developing these youngsters and giving them opportunities to play football.
“Even if there’s someone who is in Hwange, who is young and we feel as a club that he is talented and he needs to be given opportunity, I won’t mind travelling to Hwange or sending someone from the club to Hwange to have a look at the boy. If he is young and is good then we may bring him here and give him an opportunity to play football as well,” said Mapeza.
FC Platinum have turned their campaign around. They were sitting in eighth position on the log standings, with 13 points, at the end of Week 9 fixtures. They trailed pace-setters Chicken Inn by nine points and were seven points behind Dynamos and Triangle.
But 11 games later, they sit five points ahead of Chicken Inn and eight away from Dynamos. Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas yesterday said FC Platinum have regained the favourites tag following the Gamecocks 0-1 upset at Tenax. They had also lost to FC Platinum in the previous match to cede more ground to the platinum miners.
“It’s quite an intriguing situation. FC Platinum are doing well,” said Antipas.
“They are on a winning run and have been picking up maximum points of late. I can say they are now the favourites, but we are not giving up yet.
“We will continue pushing and working hard so that we bounce back to our best. The season is still long and many things are bound to happen along the way.
“It’s unfortunate we lost to Tenax. The game wasn’t up to scratch. We struggled with the pitch at Vengere and we couldn’t put together decent passes because the ground was not conducive for that type of play.
“But we hope to get back to our winning ways soon,” said Antipas.
Online Reporter