dyton mupawaenda
Blessing Malinganiza
Despite ruling his side out of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race, Manica Diamonds coach Jairos Tapera is looking to finish the season strongly.
Coming from 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sheasham, Manica Diamonds will hope to bounce back to winning ways and keep their hopes of a top four finish when they host Simba Bhora today at Gibbo.
Manica Diamonds currently sit third on the log standings with 50 points, seven behind log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars and are tied with second placed Dynamos and fourth placed FC Platinum.
Despite still having that mathematical chance of lifting their maiden title, coach Tapera has ruled his side out of the title race.
“If you look at the top four teams in terms of seniority who do you think can take the championship?
“Yes we are there among the top four but we are there because of the best run of form but with no intention of the championship,” said Tapera. Tapera insists that since the start of the season they have never had an intention of winning the championship but instead to better off their last season tenth position finish.
“We have been singing the same song since the start of the season that we need to finish better than we did last season hence we want to finish the competition on a high.
“And we also want to win as many games from the last four and see where they can take us on the log standings,” said Tapera.
With Manica Diamonds being forced to travel to Gibbo for their home matches, after their preferred home ground, Sakubva Stadium was not homologated, Tapera is full of praise for his charges for showing character in the league.
“Had it not been for the character of the boys we will not be in the top four at this moment but instead we would be talking a different story altogether.
“For us traveling for more than 750 km for our homes and more than 750 km on our away games has not been an easy task for and I am happy with how the performance of the players.
“It had become normal to us not to get a single day to training for the next match but the boys have done their best but such is football,” said Tapera.
With their opposition in today’s match, Simba Bhora not yet safe from relegation, Tapera admits it has not been easy to face team’s that are trying to survive the chop.
“It has been a big challenge to play teams that are in the relegation mix but we treat them the same and obviously going into tomorrow’s (today), we need to bounce back to winning ways.”
Online Reporter