Ngezi gun for top honours

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
LOG leaders in the Northern Region Division One soccer league Ngezi Platinum are hoping to maintain the good run that has seen them going into the mid-season break without losing a match in the 17 games they’ve played so far. The Northern Region clubs took a break over the weekend after completing the first half of the season the week before and games will resume next weekend.

Ngezi are leading the championship race with 39 points from 17 games. They have won 11 games and drawn six. They are seven points clear of second-placed ZRP FC, who have 32 points.

Gunners and Black Rhinos are third and fourth respectively with 28 points each but the former is on topthanks to a superior goal difference.

They are followed by DStv Rangers with 26 points.

The Platinum boys coach, Clifton “Somalia” Kadurira, said they are going for the championship and they need to remain focused in the last half of the season.

“It was a good performance in the first half of the season. So I will try to psyche the boys up to maintain the same performance in the second half. Sometimes when you have breaks it affects your performance, especially when you are in form but it’s part of the game.

“The second half will be tough than the first half. We are on top and we need to be strong physically and mentally because we don’t know what awaits us in the last half of the season. But we will be challenging for the championship.

“With football you never know what can happen. It’s not predictable because sometimes those teams you think are down may come back strong. There are no longer small teams in Division One, so every game we play is like a cup game for us. “We don’t have to put ourselves under pressure because the players usually panic when they play under such conditions, so we just need to relax and focus on our mission,” said Kadurira.

Kadurira said although the break may affect their momentum it will give them time to regroup as some of his players, including top goalscorer Innocent Sokosi, missed their last games because of injuries.

“By the end of the first half we had a number of injuries. Some of my best players, such as Innocent Sokosi, George Musota and Terrence Dzukamanja, were injured. We hope they will be back soon.

“We are also in negotiations with some players as we want to make some additional to our midfield.”