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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
CHICKEN Inn are looking good in their quest for a maiden Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title following another round of encouraging results for the Gamecocks at the weekend.
But their coach Joey Antipas says his side will have to work very hard in the remaining games of the season, despite opening a five-point lead at the weekend, for them to be champions.
The Gamecocks beat a battling ZPC Kariba 2-1 at Luveve to take their points tally to 46 from 22 games and they are five points clear of their nearest rivals, in-form FC Platinum.
Champions Dynamos and Triangle continue to lose ground. However, Chicken Inn will need to navigate tough terrain in their last eight games. The Gamecocks have dates with all five teams who are in the top six on the log standings and three who are fighting relegation.
They travel to fourth-placed Triangle tomorrow in what could be a decisive game in their quest for the league title. Then, at the weekend, they host champions Dynamos in what could be another defining game for Antipas and his men.
Luke Masomere’s How Mine and in-form FC Platinum, who moved into second position at the weekend following an impressive 3-1 win over fellow title contenders Dynamos, will be their next opponents.
“We have a tight fixture programme but there is really nothing we can do about it. We have to take each game as it comes,” said Antipas. “I always remind these boys about the challenges and these are the challenges I talk about.
“So, it’s going to be a tight finish this year because there are about four teams who can all win it, depending on how the remaining games unfold.
“But we are hoping to continue with the good form, we just need to have that final push.”
Antipas is chasing his second league title after leading Motor Action to the championship in 2010.
His men scrambled a win, on a day when they played poorly against an impressive ZPC Kariba, and Antipas knows that it’s winning games like these, when you are not playing well, that can make champions.
Chicken Inn were missing three key players, Tafadzwa Kutinyu, Lawrence Mhlanga and skipper Danny Phiri, at the weekend but they still managed to grind a very important win.
Striker Edmore Chirambadare finally ended his goal drought when he bagged his ninth of the season in the 2-1 victory over ZPC Kariba.
He had last scored in June when they came to Harare and destroyed DeMbare in their backyard.
“We won at the weekend but I feel we still have a lot of work to do. We didn’t play like we normally do but the good thing, however, is that we managed to get maximum points,” said Antipas.
But while things appear to be flowing smoothly for Antipas, there was no joy for Lloyd Chitembwe in his homecoming match with CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium.
Having been warmly welcomed by the Green Machine family, before the start of the game, Chitembwe saw his men dominate the game but, familiar failings to put their chances away, came back to haunt them.
The bulk of the second half was played virtually in the Buffaloes half as CAPS United, pushed on by fans who demanded a victory, camped in the half of the plucky visitors.
But, now and again, they could not get the goal that their possession merited with a number of golden chances being blown by their forwards who have lost whatever confidence they had that they can put the ball in the back of the net.
Dominic Chungwa has become the fall guy and he has not only lost his confidence but also the support of the fans who, once again, called for his substitution on Sunday.
The Green Machine stayed seventh on the table with 31 points.
But it is getting hot at the bottom of the table where the newly-promoted sides Dongo Sawmill, Flame Lily, Whawha and Tsholotsho remained trapped in the relegation zone.
Tsholotsho were the only team, among the quartet, to get maximum points following a 2-1 win over How Mine while the other three were involved in stalemates.
Online Reporter