adminEllina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
GUNNERS have moved their game against ZRP Football Club tomorrow to Rufaro as the World Navi Northern Region Division One soccer league championship race reaches boiling point.
The two teams were booted out of the Yadah TV Knock-out Cup on Saturday with Gunners losing 1-3 to Mushowani while ZRP FC went down 0-1 to Ngezi Platinum in the semi-finals at Gwanzura.
But Gunners, who are just a point behind log leaders Flame Lilly, still have something to play for and a win tomorrow will keep their hopes for promotion alive.
They won their last league game against Starbill 2-1 and will be hoping for a positive result tomorrow.
Gunners coach, Kudakwashe Masaraure, said they have moved tomorrow’s game to Rufaro because they felt their home ground, Lafarge, of late, had been contributing to their poor performance.
“I think the problem is we were struggling to play at home, so when we played Starbill at Rufaro we saw that our guys actually played their normal passing game.
“And we thought our ground was contributing in players failing to do well.
“If you look at the games we have played so far, we have done well away than at home because we lost two games at home.
“So I believe if we have a good ground our boys will do much better because at the moment it is difficult to maintain the ground because of water problems,” said Masaraure.
Masaraure said the Yadah Cup semi-final loss was now in the past and they were bracing up for the league encounter against the police side.
“It’s a must win game because we are out of the Cup and we have to, at least, get something from the league,” said Masaraure.
“We are putting our hopes on the league now and we will fight to the end.
“It’s going to be a tough game but we will fight to the end. All our games are not easy, so we have to win this game against ZRP Football Club.
“We have talked to the guys after Saturday’s defeat because we really wanted the Cup, we felt it was ours and said now the most important thing is the league.
“We have to make sure that we do not lose any of our remaining games.”
The Gunners coach had hoped to make it a double by winning the Yadah Cup and the League but on Saturday he watched helplessly as side went down to Mushowani.
ZRP FC coach, Thulani Sibanda, said although they were out of the championship race, they will be using the four matches left to prepare for next year.
“There are still four games to go in the league, so we are still using those games to prepare for next year. Obviously, we are not playing for anything now.
“I feel our potential is good but in football sometimes you don’t get to where you were preparing to be.
“It’s only that we are still trying to correct one or two things but I think we are on the right track,” said Sibanda.
ZRP FC are currently seventh on the table.
Online Reporter