Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi-Zimpapers Sports Hub
LOG leaders Simba Bhora coach Joel Luphahla and his closet rival Tonderai Ndiraya of Scottland were unanimous after their win at the weekend that depth and consistency will be key for success in the remainder of the Castle Lager Premiership race.
The two leading sides boosted their championship credentials after picking maximum points despite missing some of their key players.
Scottland were still full value for money when they stretched their winning run to six games, and temporarily taking charge of the race, even without their injured captain Walter Musona, midfielder Kingsley Mureremba and Albert Maneji.
However, Simba Bhora responded by beating fellow league title contenders MWOS 1-0 away at the new boys’ Ngoni fortress, to reclaim their one-point advantage at the top.
Although it is still early to make definite proclamations, this year’s title race could end up being an epic contest between defending champions Simba Bhora and ambitious new boys Scottland.
Simba Bhora have 50 points and Scottland 49. The next team in the race MWOS are on 42 points. Ndiraya, who won the title with Simba Bhora last year, hopes to draw from the experience to deny his former paymasters a repeat.
“This year there’s a lot of competition in the league; a lot of competition and if you look at it, I think it’s been Simba Bhora and MWOS changing places at the top,” he said.
“And, the consistency that I spoke about has also brought us into the mix as well. It’s the final stretch and it’s really going to take a lot of character for the team that is really going to be crowned in the end.
“But like I’ve said, there’s still competition — 27 points to play for. If you look at the difference between points in the top six, it’s not much.
“So, hopefully the experience that I gained at Simba Bhora will help our cause,” said Ndiraya.
Scottland have picked up extreme tempo in the last month, winning six league games in a row. This is the first time this season that they have managed to string together a winning streak of more than three matches.
Ndiraya believes character will be key and he will have less doubts in that aspect considering they have assembled a strong squad, with impact players such as Knowledge Musona and Terrence Dzvukamanja also joining them during the mid-season transfer window.
“The good thing is we have players within our ranks that are experienced, that have won titles before, that play for the national team. So we have picked the form at the right time.
“Hopefully we are going to maintain that and keep putting points on the board and see what happens in the end,” he said.
Their chief marksman Tymon Machope seems to have picked form at the most crucial moment and his brace made the big difference in the 2-1 win over ZPC Kariba at Rufaro in their last game.
They have won six league games on the trot and also the Chibuku Super Cup first round, to make it seven in the last seven games.
“Getting results at that moment is one thing but also getting to be consistent going forward is another thing. I think, so far in the last seven games we have been very consistent.
“Hopefully in the last nine league matches we can be consistent and go through to the end but it’s a difficult terrain to navigate.
“We have to be very strong physically and mentally so that we can keep going. Of course, depth has really helped us. When we lose players we can easily replace,” said Ndiraya.
There are also individual milestones at the stake as Ndiraya will be looking to become the first local coach to win the league title back-to-back with different teams while Luphahla wants to make history by winning it in his debut season as a topflight league coach.
Luphahla believes in his team’s fighting spirit, especially after seeing them soaking the pressure and reclaim top spot from Scottland.
“The fact that we have got them back to the summit also gives us confidence. These games are now coming fast and thick, but I am happy that we have got depth in our team.
“You saw we couldn’t even bring on players like Blessed Ndereki, Trevor Mavhunga, Never Tigere, they sat on the bench, and that tells you that we have got the quality. So, we are confident enough that when we go home, we are going to try and get the three points.
“It’s not easy, the games are difficult, but also we have got pressure because the other teams are also playing well, playing good football.
“So that pressure, we need to manage it and we have even changed the way we have been training to try and bring more fun so that the boys don’t think too much because when they think too much, they get stressed and when they are stressed, they make a lot of mistakes,” said Luphahla.
Simba Bhora and Scottland have also benefited from MWOS’ woes. Lloyd Mutasa’s men, who led the race for the most part of the first half of the campaign, are lowly falling away from the competition after managing only two points from a possible 18, in the last month.
Former champions Ngezi Platinum Stars are also struggling for consistency, and have dropped to seventh place following the 1-1 draw with Bikita Minerals.
“Obviously, there is no team that doesn’t want to win the title. But what determines that is how you collect the points because other teams at the top of us are collecting maximum points and they are going away from us.
“The main focus for us now is to make sure we just need to finish the season in a respectable position,” said Ngezi Platinum coach Takesure Chiragwi.
