adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
GUNNERS believe they are being driven by divine help, in their quest for a return to the Premiership, which has now swept them to the top of the World Navi Northern Region Division One league table.
The Harare club, owned by Prophet Walter Magaya, have been turned into a religious side with all the players and coaching staff expected to be Christians.
And the Gunners’ players and coaches believe it’s written, in the skies, that they will be champions this year and return to the Premiership next year.
Coach Kudakwashe Masaraure masterminded his team’s rise to the top after a comfortable 3-0 win over Royal Classic.
Masaraure said while it felt good to go top of the table, they were taking each game as it comes.
“Like I said before if we are promoted to Premiership it’s a bonus. We were not planning to be in Premier League but because of God it just happened for us to be on that position,” said Masaraure.
“I think this can be our year.
“We had hoped to improve our goal aggregate but Royal Classic was playing well. However, a win is a win whether 1-0 or 3-0.”
With two games to go before the end of first half the league is becoming interesting as the top four teams — Gunners, Bindura, Flame Lilly and Mushowani — are entangled in a fierce fight.
Bindura surrendered their pole position when they were held to a goalless draw by Flame Lilly at Chipadze on Saturday. This was Bindura’s second consecutive draw having settled for a 0-0 draw against Mushowani and coach John Wilo said the weekend results were a blessing in disguise as it gives them time to work on the team under less pressure. “God just put us there strategically I know it happens but it lessens the pressure on us so that we can work well without a lot of pressure,” said Wilo.
Wilo said they had a good game and hailed their opponents for giving them a tough run during the match.
“The match wasn’t so bad, we lacked precision when shooting. The few chances we had we failed to convert showing we were playing a better team, a seasoned team.
“Our game against ZRP Morris surely is one of the games we are looking forward to win so that we remain in contest.
“It’s a must-win game but we are not taking anything away from them. We know they are a good side and their win over the weekend was a boost for them,” said Wilo.
Flame Lilly maintained their third position despite the draw as well as Mushowani who remained fourth on the tables despite losing 0-1 to Ngezi Platinum.
Meanwhile, Northern Region league vice-chairperson, Martin Kweza, said the match between Blue Swallows and DC Academy will be played on a date yet to be decided because they need to assess the situation on the ground after a suspected food poisoning affected the airforce side. The match was pencilled for last Saturday but had to be postponed as the players got ill on Friday leading the club to request for the match to be moved to another date.
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