adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
Flame Lilly ……………………………….0)2
ZRP Morris ………………………………(0)1
FLAME LILY coach Nesbert “Yabo” Saruchera yesterday said the championship race was still wide open after they cut Gunners’ lead to just three points following a crucial win at Chikurubi.
Leaders Gunners could only settle for a 1-1 draw against Blue Swallows in their World Navi Northern Region Division One soccer league match.
Patrick Makuvaza scored for Gunners while Walter Mudavanhu was on target for Blue Swallows.
Flame Lily got their goals from Gift Phiri in the 48th minute before Virimayi Mkudo sealed victory in the 62nd minute.
ZRP Morris got their consolation goal from Talent Ngwerume in the 76th minute.
“I think we played well, coming from two defeats although, maybe, we were not very safe towards the end of the game,” Saruchera said.
“But we are happy we collected maximum points.
“We are still in there, maybe we will be the champions at the end of the day. We are fighting to get there. We just want to keep on fighting and encouraging the guys to keep on working.”
Flame Lily will take on relegation fighters Chegutu Pirates in their next game and Saruchera believes they are primed for another success.
“We need to collect three points again because we don’t want to be far away from the pacesetters,” said Saruchera.
ZRP Morris coach John “Toto” Ncube said they lost to a better side.
“I think the game was a tight encounter but we lost the game. We lost, maybe, to a better side, Flame Lily played better than us today and I think they deserved the win,” said Ncube.
“We still have eight games to play, so I think we have everything to fight for.
“I know the pitch is bumpy, it’s different from our own pitch and I think it was another factor that affected our players’ performance.”
World Navi Log Table
P W D L F A Pts
Gunners 26 16 9 1 36 10 57
Flame Lily 26 16 6 4 27 9 54
Mushowani 26 15 6 5 32 14 51
Bindura 26 13 6 7 21 16 45
Ngezi 26 12 6 8 26 15 42
Commando 26 9 12 5 24 18 39
ZRP Football 26 10 6 10 34 21 36
DC Academy 26 9 9 8 25 24 36
DStv Rangers 26 9 8 9 23 22 35
Karoi United 26 9 6 11 25 22 33
Lake Harvest 26 10 3 13 29 32 33
ZRP Morris 26 7 11 8 25 20 32
Starbill 25 9 4 11 23 28 31
Seven Flames 26 6 12 8 22 34 30
Blue Swallows 26 6 8 12 15 20 26
Twalumba 26 4 9 13 12 28 22
Chegutu 25 7 4 14 14 33 22
Royal Classic 26 2 3 21 13 60 9
Online Reporter