Herentals to beef up squad

Sports Reporter
NORTHERN Region Division One Soccer league log leaders Herentals are not leaving anything to chance in their mission to qualify for the Premiership, with coach Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva targeting at least four players to beef up his squad. The pacesetters wrapped up the first half of the season with a 1-0 win over Mufakose United last Saturday.

And they are taking advantage of the mid-season break to make some additions to their side.

“I am looking at just beefing up my midfield department and attack.

“Those are the critical areas I just want to add up and just bring one outside player, who plays on the wing.

‘’So, in total, I am just looking at four players,” Mutiwekuziva said.

As they plan for the second half of the season, Mutiwekuziva said they are going to be cautious when they resume their campaign.

“The second half is very important in the sense that it’s the deciding half for who is going to win the title. Therefore, I am going to treat it with a lot of caution and target more wins so that we keep our position on top.

“It’s going to be difficult because most teams would also have beefed up their squad. But, more importantly, we are going to take it with a lot of caution,” said Mutiwekuziva.

Out of their 17 matches, the log leaders have lost just one, won 12 and drawn four.

In sharp contrast, Trojan Stars are finding it difficult to adjust.

The Bindura-based side are currently in 15th place with 19 points, forcing the club to dismiss their technical team led by Costa Maradzike early last week. The team is now under the guidance of Zacks Kataya, who managed a goalless draw against Ngezi Under-19 in his first game just before the break as head coach.

Trojan Stars secretary-general Irvine Gunyere said they were hoping for better fortunes in the second half if they are to retain their spot in the league.

“Obviously we are not happy being 15th. We thought we could have done better than this.

“Obviously we are looking to survive in Division One. So we have put in this new technical team to try and save the team. In short we are saying we are not happy with the first half,” said Genyere.

Gunyere conceded they need to up their game and believes the last half of the season may bring some favourable results for their team.