No one is safe, Tsholotsho coach

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
TSHOLOTSHO lived to die another day in the Premiership with their coach Darlington Dodo refusing to go down without a fight.

Tsholotsho could have been axed had they dropped points against already relegated Bantu Rovers at the weekend, but they delayed the inevitable by winning their encounter 2-1 in Beitbridge. Shepard Mhlanga and Trust Nyabinde scored for Tsholotsho while Nigel Papias scored for Rovers.

Despite collecting maximum points, Tsholotsho, with 24 points from 30 games, need a miracle to remain in the topflight. They may end the season with 36 points should they win their remaining four games and teams yet to attain those points are Hwange (31), Shabanie Mine (32), Yadah (34), Bulawayo City (35) and Harare City (35).

Tsholotsho face championship chasing Chicken Inn and FC Platinum in their next matches as well as Triangle United, who are also not safe before wrapping their campaign with a home game against Black Rhinos.

“No one is safe at this stage and we’re still fighting. It’s out of our hands because we picked momentum late and at this critical stage of the season, we still believe. Crazy as it may be, we will fight till the last whistle and our next opponents being Chicken Inn, I know my players tend to rise to the occasion when playing against big teams. Chicken Inn are fighting for the championship and psychologically their players might underrate my players which might be their downfall,” said Dodo.

Giving himself a little ray of hope, Dodo said: “Its dog eat dog and everyone is raising their sleeves to fight for the last points.”

The other clubs set for First Division as Tsholotsho are Hwange, Shabanie, Yadah, Harare City and Triangle. Only five points separate 11th placed Triangle United and 15th placed Shabanie, making this a very competitive fight for survival.

Shabanie, who presently occupy the last relegation slot, can make good their relegation escape if they pull a shocker by beating Black Rhinos away in Harare and hope Bulawayo City, also staring relegation, beat Yadah in Harare.

After Rhinos, Shabanie return to Zvishavane to host Hwange, then How Mine (away) and Yadah (home) on the last day of the season. Shabanie will hope the points difference between them and Yadah is two points on the last day of the season so that they finish the job and ensure their survival by winning their last game of the year.

Yadah lost to How Mine 2-1 and need to spring shockers to survive the chop. They are left with games against Bulawayo City, Caps United and Highlanders before travelling to Zvishavane for their last game of the season against Shabanie.

Bulawayo City, who lost to Chapungu 3-1 at home, are left with Yadah (away), Dynamos (home), Caps United (away) and wrap the season against Bantu Rovers in Bulawayo.

Harare City are left with just one home game, a Match Day 32 encounter against Black Rhinos. They will play the other three matches out of the capital against Triangle, Hwange and How Mine.

Things are tight for the coalminers who need to dig deep in their last four games against inconsistent Highlanders at the Colliery, Shabanie (away), home to relegation threatened Harare City and away to ZPC Kariba on the last day.

What it simply means is that the survival race is as exciting as that for the title.

Match Day 30 Results

Friday: Harare City 0-0 FC Platinum
Saturday: Bulawayo City 1-3 Chapungu, Yadah FC 0-1 How Mine, Ngezi Platinum 2-0 Dynamos
Sunday: Tsholotsho FC 2-1 Bantu Rovers, Shabanie Mine 1-1 Triangle United, Highlanders 2-0 Black Rhinos, Caps United 1-1 Hwange, ZPC Kariba 0-0 Chicken Inn

Table

P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Ngezi Platinum Stars    30    18   6   6    50    26    24    60
FC Platinum    30    16    12    2   32    14    18    60
Dynamos    30    17    7   6   48    24    24    58
Chicken Inn    30    17   5    8    31    19    12    56
Caps United    30    13    11   6    39    26    13    50
How Mine   30    13    7    10    28    30   -2    46
Highlanders    30    12    7   11    32    29    3    43
ZPC Kariba    30    11   8    11    27    27    0   41
Chapungu    30    10    10    10    23    24    -1    40
Black Rhinos   30   10    8    12    32    29    3    38
Triangle United    30   9    10    11   31   34    -3   37
Harare City    30    9    8    13    27    24    3    35
Bulawayo City    30    10    5    15    32    40   -8    35
Yadah FC    30    8   10    12    27    36   -9    34
Shabanie Mine    30    7    10    12    21    30   -9    32
Hwange    30   8    7    15   24    35    -11   31
Tsholotsho FC    30    4    12    14    19    39    -20    24
Bantu Rovers    30    4    4   22   26    62    -36    16