Giants flex muscles

Motor Action have badly lost their way, FC Platinum no longer have the leadership torch they had at this point of the race last year while CAPS United are in a weaker position than at this stage of the battle in the previ­ous season.
Monomotapa have more points on the board, more victories under their belt and are in a far better position compared to where they were sitting on the Premiership table at this point last year.
Bosso’s resurgence has been spec­tacular and the Bulawayo giants, who lead the championship race and are turning themselves into favourites with each passing week, have 11 points more than at this stage last year.
After 17 games last season, High­landers were in fourth place on the table, eight points behind leaders FC Platinum, but the Kelvin Kaindu revo­lution has swept them top of the table with a seven-point cushion for good measure.
Today, Bosso are 11 points better off than last season, have won three more games, scored six more goals, con­ceded the same number of goals and have drawn two more games.
Of significance is the fact that where Bosso had lost five games, after 17 matches last season, they are yet to lose a game in this campaign as they simply refuse to the bullied.
There has been a 21,57 percent swing, in terms of success rate, at Highlanders this season compared to the same time last year.
Where Bosso had a 54,90 percent success rate in the league champi­onship race, after 17 games, they now have a healthy and stunning 76,47 percent success rate.
No wonder why some of their fans now believe that the Class of 2012 have the potential to run into Immor­tals by completing the entire season unbeaten in the league championship race.
Champions Dynamos might be third right now and their morale cer­tainly deflated by the two points dropped against Blue Rangers in their last match at Rufaro on Sunday which ended in a surprise 1-1 draw.
Given that DeMbare had slaugh­tered the same team 6-0 just a few weeks ago, the frustration among their fans, especially in a weekend in which Bosso made a huge statement by beat­ing CAPS United 2-0 in Harare, is understandable.
But football is a funny old game and isn’t it ironic that the same Bosso, who thrashed Quelaton by scoring seven times two weeks ago, had settled for a draw against the same team in the reverse fixture?
The Glamour Boys might be eight points off the pace, with two games in hand, but it’s also a fact that they have improved from where they were, at this stage of the season, last year.
DeMbare are six points better off than their tally after 15 games last year, they have won two more games, drawn the same number of games, lost two games less and scored nine more goals.
Just like Bosso, the number of goals they have conceded, when compared to the same stage last year, remains the same.
Bosso’s spectacular revival has over­shadowed DeMbare’s improvement, when compared to their campaign last year, but it remains a fact that the Glamour Boys have a 13,33 percent better success rate, in terms of points on the table, than last season.
After 15 games last year, Dynamos had a 55,55 percent success rate and now they have improved that to 68.88 percent
Not bad for a team that showed us last year that, when it comes to the business end of the championship race, they can get into the kind of hos­tile mood where they carry no prison­ers.
Dynamos were third, at this stage last year, and their position remains uncharged.
FC Platinum are five points off the pace they set last year in a brave but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become the first club to take the league championship out of Harare and Bulawayo after Independence.
That the heartbreaking nature of the way they collapsed at the final hurdle, with the bitterness worsened by that own goal that knocked them out at home, would take longer to shake off, was something that we all sadly under-estimated.
Today FC Platinum have won two games less than their number of wins, at this stage last season, drawn one game more, lost one game more, scored two goals more and, crucially, conceded seven goals more.
That it was the defence, which took the brunt of the criticism from the fallout of their failed championship campaign because of the decisive nature of that own goal, probably explains why the defenders have taken longer to free themselves from the chains of that nightmare.
At this stage of the season last year, FC Platinum were leading the race and had a success rate of 68,75 percent while, today, they find themselves with a 58,33 percent success rate, and, as they say on the stock market, 10,42 percentage points down.
Motor Action were sitting pretty, in second place, at this stage of the sea­son last year but where they had 34 points in the bag after 17 games, they now have 22 points.
They have won three games less, drawn three games less, lost six games more and conceded nine goals more.
Where they had a success rate of 66,66 percent, at this stage of the cam­paign last year, they are now stuck on a 43,13 percent failure rate, a down­ward swing of 23,53 percent.
CAPS United have failed to mount a strong bid for the championship this season despite promising a lot in the off-season and also bringing in a European coach to guide them home.
Sean Connor has already been dis­missed and the Green Machine finds itself around the same position where it was at this stage of the campaign last year, three points off the tally they had, winning one game less, same number of draws and losing one game more.
CAPS had 22 points after 17 games and now they have 19 and have scored 13 goals less and are four places down the ladder.
Little Shabanie have staged a mira­cle and have improved their points tally by 100 percent and where they had just 16 points from 17 games last year, stuck at the bottom of the table, they now have 32 points from the same number of matches.
And, for good measure, Luke Masomere’s men are second in the championship race.
They have won six more games, drawn one more game, lost four games less and scored eight goals more, thanks to the influence of lead­ing goalscorer Nelson Mazivisa.
But it is in defence where Masomere has worked wonders and Shabanie have conceded 18 goals less at this stage of the season when compared to last year.
Complete turnaround!
Black Mambas are fighting hard to avoid relegation and find themselves four points off the tally they had last year, while Adam Ndlovu has worked his magic at Chicken Inn and they are five points better off.
Monomotapa have been a success story, piling eight more points better than what they had in the bag at this stage last year, have won five games more and are full value for their fourth place on the table.
Hwange have remained static and have exactly the same number of points, 24, which they had at this stage of the season last year.
They have won one game more but also lost one game more, balancing all that with three less draws than they had last season.
Blue Rangers have shed their points tally by half and where they had 22 points last year, after 17 games, they now have 11.