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Lawrence Moyo-Head Zimpapers Sports Hub
SECOND-PLACED Scottland were the biggest winners on MatchDay 32 of the Northern Region Division One league as their two main rivals dropped points.
Scottland were first in action, beating hosts Cranborne Bullets 3-1 at Rufaro on Friday while leaders MWOS were held to a 1-1 draw at Banket United while third placed Black Rhinos lost 2-1 at Trojan Stars.
MWOS took the lead early in the first half but conceded in the second half while Black Rhinos were level 1-1 with five minutes remaining before conceding a late goal.
MWOS moved to 71 points from 32 games following an eighth draw of the season while Scottland have 66 points from 31 games.
Their abandoned match against Karoi United was being deliberated on last night and a decision will be announced anytime.
Former leaders Black Rhinos are now 11 points behind MWOS and are fizzling out of the championship race following a poor second half of the campaign.
Effectively the NRSL has been reduced to a two-horse race pitting leaders MWOS and Scottland as former leaders Harare City were virtually eliminated following a winless six matches in September.
Former Dynamos coach Mangombe believes Scottland have a good chance in the race if they just take each game as it comes and avoid looking too far ahead.
He, however, is worried that some within the Scottland camp will now preoccupy themselves with what will be happening in the MWOS camp.
Already, Scottland have to work on narrowing the huge gap on goal difference where MWOS have plus 38 against the Mabvuku side’s plus 23.
As things stand, MWOS will win the championship if they finish level on points with Scottland because of a superior goal difference.
Mangombe has just six games to turn the tables.
“The race is okay, so far so good. However, the pressure is growing and we now need to manage our expectations, especially the supporters. The Scottland supporters should not focus on MWOS, let’s worry about our own games and see what happens.
“Six games are a lot and there is still a lot to play for. For us the more urgent issue is about goals so that we close the gap on MWOS in terms of goal difference.
“We must focus on more than winning, we need to win big so that by the end of the season we should even be comfortable with finishing level on points with MWOS.
“So even our preparations going forward should be about utilising our chances so that we improve on our goal difference.”
Scottland, who have just one game outside of Harare remaining, will host Norton Community this weekend on MatchDay 33 with revenge on the menu.
Norton Community is one of five teams to beat Scottland so far this season and Mangombe believes they will come to Harare on a mission to do MWOS a big favour.
“My biggest worry is complacency after a big win against a very strong Cranborne Bullets side on Friday. The boys might think its an easy game and that will create problems for us.
“On their part, Norton Community obviously believe they represent Norton and will be fighting for their brothers, MWOS. So if we are not careful they ruin our season. We might be better resourced than Norton Community but they have already beaten us and they have nothing to lose when we play them. All the pressure will be on us,” said Mangombe.
The former senior national team assistant coach appealed to the Scottland supporters to rally behind the team even when the chips are down.
“My appeal to the fans is for them to celebrate the historic year whereby we are in the title race on our debut season. We have already over achieved and thats a cause for celebration. Therefore, there is no need for our supporters to put the team under pressure from the terraces, even if we are having a bad day.
“If we all pull in one direction then we can achieve greatness. Let us be one team and face the remaining six games as one.”
Of the remaining six matches, MWOS and Scottland face Black Mambas and Norton Community while the leaders travel outside of Norton three times to face CCLEE Mhangura, Golden Eagles and Black Mambas.
While Scottland have three away matches remaining, only Chinhoyi Stars are based out of Harare.
Remaining 6 matches
MWOS
1. Trojan Stars (Home)
2. Golden Eagles (Away)
3. Black Mambas (Away)
4. CCLEE Mhangura (Away)
5. Norton Community (Home)
6. Agama (Home)
SCOTTLAND
1. Norton Community (Home)
2. Chinhoyi Stars (Away)
3. DZ Royal Stars (Away)
4. Harare City (Away)
5. Herentals Under-20 (Home)
6. Black Mambas (Home)
Latest Standings
P W D L F A Pts
MWOS 32 21 8 3 55 17 71
Scottland 31 20 6 5 41 18 66
Black Rhinos 32 17 9 6 38 25 60
Harare City 32 16 10 6 39 19 58
Agama 32 11 15 6 32 26 48
Golden Eagles 32 11 14 7 32 21 47
Herentals 32 12 11 9 35 28 47
PAM FC 32 12 10 10 26 25 46
Cranborne 32 10 13 9 25 25 43
Trojan Stars 32 9 13 10 24 28 40
Karoi United 31 9 12 10 22 28 39
Ngezi U-19 32 9 11 12 26 29 38
Shamva 32 9 9 14 22 37 36
Black Mambas 32 8 11 13 25 27 35
Chinhoyi Stars 32 8 11 13 25 37 35
Norton Community 32 8 9 15 35 43 33
Zambezi C and G 31 5 9 17 26 47 24
DZ Royal Stars 32 6 6 20 18 41 24
CCLEE Mhangura 32 5 7 20 18 43 22
Online Reporter