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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MUTARE Premiership outfit, Manica Diamonds says their superb start to the 2021/22 Castle Lager Premiership season will not be derailed by the rescheduling of matches owing to the surging cases of Covid-19 around the country.
The Gem Boys opened their account with an impressive 4-0 hammering of hapless prison wardens, Whawha FC at Sakubva Stadium, before collecting another set of maximum points away in Bulawayo against Bulawayo City, thanks to a hard fought 2-1 triumph.
The results left the diamond miners in second position on the table behind leaders, FC Platinum who have a better goal difference after the two teams amassed the same number of points.
This weekend, Manica Diamonds were set to face Highlanders at Sakubva Stadium in a potentially scintillating encounter that would have given the Mutare side a true test of fortitude.
The Manica Diamonds’ Castle Lager Premier League match against Highlanders has since been rescheduled after both teams recorded Covid-19 positive cases in their respective camps.
Several domestic top-flight league clubs have a number of players and officials who tested positive for Covid-19, leading to the rescheduling of Match Day Three fixtures that were expected to start on Wednesday.
Manica Diamonds’ team manager, Ticha Zikai said: “We would have loved to maintain the tempo and face Highlanders while we still have the high morale in camp. However, that will not deter us from playing our usual game whenever we will face them.
“After all, we always plan for the next match. We have never planned for five matches ahead. Therefore, we will have more time to plot against Highlanders.
“We have no doubt that we will collect maximum points against Highlanders. That will help us boost our confidence going into the oncoming matches. It will also place so much pressure on our opponents thereafter.”
Although individual teams were gagged to reveal the number of Covid-19 cases in their camp, reliable sources within a number of clubs confided in Post Sport that a number of players tested positive.
Manica Diamonds, for example, has a total of 11 Covid-19 positive cases inclusive of players and a technical official.
Highlanders and Black Rhinos are each understood to have more than eight players and officials who tested positive for Covid-19.
The latest developments have seen some matches involving teams with Covid-19 positive cases being postponed.
Premier Soccer League spokesperson, Kudzai Bare said: “We will decide on next fixtures based on the number of Covid-19 cases each club will be having. We will have some matches being postponed or rescheduled to give time for the affected players and officials to recover.”
The Castle Lager Premiership was set to resume this week in Matchday Three, starting with midweek fixtures on Wednesday.
The games were expected to continue tomorrow (Saturday) with five games lined up, and three matches on Sunday, among them Manica Diamonds against Highlanders.
The league action was put on hold last weekend to pave way for the 2021 Chibuku Super Cup final between Ngezi Platinum Stars and FC Platinum.
FC Platinum are this year’s Chibuku Cup winners after beating Ngezi Platinum Stars 5-3 through a penalty lottery.
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