Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
Newboys Hardrock stormed to the top of the Premier Soccer League table yesterday after grinding out a crucial victory over Bulawayo Chiefs at Barbourfields, as the title race took another dramatic twist.
Former pacesetters CAPS United lost ground after being held by Simba Bhora, while reigning champions Scottland continued to wobble, settling for a frustrating seventh draw of the campaign.
It has been a riveting start to the 2026 championship marathon and for the first time in many weeks, CAPS United surrendered pole position when drawing 1-1 with Simba Bhora at Wadzanai in Shamva.
The slip-up by CAPS United allowed Hardrock to claw into pole position, courtesy of superior goal difference as both sides are now on 27 points after the Match Day 13 action.
ZPC Kariba derail Scottland
It was another frustrating afternoon for Scottland, as the Premiership big spenders were held to a 0-0 draw by ZPC Kariba at Rufaro.
ZPC Kariba put up a gallant fight as they sought to bounce back from two successive defeats.
Their coach, Newton Chitewe, left the capital charmed by his men’s show.
“I am happy with the point. The plan was to avoid defeat,” he said. “We were coming from two defeats and getting a point against defending champions is something positive.”
Scottland enjoyed an upper hand from the onset, forcing ZPC Kariba to defend deep.
Their first real opportunity arrived in the fourth minute when skipper Walter Musona found himself face-to -face with Warriors third-choice Future Sibanda, but found the ZPC Kariba goalkeeper alert.
The Mabvuku-based side continued to press, but the visitors remained resolute as they kept their defensive discipline to thwart any attacking threats from the champions and relied on counter-attacks.
Scottland coach Norman Mapeza bemoaned the glut of chances they missed.
“Coming into every game, you will be expecting three points, but we only managed a single and will take it,” he said. “We could have buried the game, we had a number of chances that came our way. This is something that we have been working on for some time and I believe it’s work in progress.”
CAPS let lead slip
CAPS United scored in the 30th minute in Shamva via Malawian Lloyd Njaliwa, but Simba Bhora battled back to snatch a 90th-minute leveller through teenage forward Cole Tsamba.
The game had a dramatic moment just 15 minutes on when referee Nelson Meke awarded Simba Bhora a penalty.
Meke then overturned his decision after reconsidering the situation and awarded the visitors a drop ball.
Key win for Hardrock
Kaindu returned to familiar territory yesterday, this time clad in the green and yellow colours of Hardrock instead of the famous black and white of Highlanders or the blue of Dynamos where he ended the season last year.
The Zambian walked away from Barbourfields with exactly the result he wanted after goals by Soccer Star of the Year Washington Navaya, off a penalty, and Neliswa Dlamini deflated the Bulawayo Chiefs’ spirits.
Chiefs had shown early attacking intent when they won a free-kick in a promising position just two minutes into the match, but Melikhaya Ncube’s effort was comfortably dealt with.
The hosts created several openings thereafter, but lacked the cutting edge in front of goal.
Chiefs coach John Nyikadzino blamed poor defending and wastefulness in attack for the defeat.
“We lost it in the first half due to poor clearances. We got some chances, but our decision-making was poor,” he said.
Kaindu was delighted with the response from his side following their surprise 1-0 home defeat to Highlanders midweek.
“It’s a good win for us after our previous loss. We knew it was going to be a difficult game against Chiefs,” he said.
“We created several chances which I thought we should have converted.”
Saul lashes at referees again
Just three matches on his return to the Premiership dugout, Saul Chaminuka has rekindled his turf wars with match officials. Now in charge of TelOne, he once again made sensational claims that there is “a plot” against his team after the Wi-Fi Boys controversially suffered a 2-1 home loss against Manica Diamonds at Ascot.
This was the seventh loss at Ascot for TelOne, whose poor home form dates back to last year. TelOne will, however, this time around feel hard-done by some poor match officiating from Mercy Mayimbo.
Mayimbo made a series of dubious decisions that went against TelOne, particularly Tawanda Macheke’s disallowed goal in the 68th minute.
With the hosts trailing and searching for an equaliser, Macheke beat Geoffrey Chitsumba with a clinical header, but his effort was chalked off after assistant referee Obey Mbengo raised his flag for offside.
A few minutes later, TelOne were denied what appeared to be a penalty after Chitsumba cluttered into Nqosiyabo Masilela inside the penalty area.
And after the match, Chaminuka felt that the match officials had decided the outcome.
“It is very difficult, I look every day from my first game, there seems to be a plot against us,” he said.
“The officiating, I do not want to talk about the officiating, I want to talk about the technical aspects of the game, but then the players have done what they needed to do and someone decides. Now you fail to understand what is going on. The same thing happened on Wednesday, we scored a good goal, but we were denied. I do not know why we are coming to play when match officials have results already.
“Players do what they have to, but someone else turns them down. I really do not know what needs to be done.’’
TelOne will partly have themselves to blame for allowing Manica Diamonds back into the match after taking an early lead when Eriya Mafirenyika headed home from close range inside 15 minutes.
The lead did not last long as the Mutare side were back on level terms on the half-hour mark with Lawrence Masibera’s tap-in from close range.
Man of the match, Liberty Masveure, turned the match on its head when he gave the Gem Boys the lead seven minutes later, finishing off a quick counter-attack.
Manica Diamonds coach Patrick Mandizha was delighted with a rare win on the road. “I was very impressed by my team, how they showed commitment and dedication in a high-intensity match like this one. We controlled the match in the first half with good build-up play from the back, culminating in us getting those two goals,” he said.
