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Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer League programme resumes this weekend with the bottom five teams all in action as they continue with their battle against relegation. Buffaloes, Tsholotsho FC, Flame Lily, Whawha and Dongo Sawmill occupy the bottom five slots on the league table with just five rounds of matches remaining before the curtain comes down on the PSL season. Five matches have been lined up for the weekend, but the much awaited Chicken Inn and FC Platinum clash as well as the Chapungu and Highlanders’ tie have been postponed to next Wednesday.
Caps United and Triangle United’s fixture will be played on Sunday, November 1. Defending champions Dynamos will be in action on Saturday against Flame Lily despite having three players, Blessing Moyo, Ocean Mushure and Rodrick Mutuma on national duty.
PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele said the Week 26 matches had been designed in a way that does not interfere with the Warriors’ preparations for the second leg of the final 2016 African Nations Championships qualifier against Lesotho on Sunday.
“We communicated with the clubs asking them to put in writing whether they will be able to play or not and acted according to responses we got. As the flagship of Zimbabwean football, PSL takes the Chan tournament seriously as it is an avenue for locally-based players to showcase their talent and show the rest of the continent how competitive our league is. For that reason, the PSL fully supports the Chan cause,” said Ndebele.
With fans set to wait for a week before watching the epic battle between table toppers Chicken Inn and FC Platinum, in an encounter that many believe will determine the championship direction, they are still guaranteed some exciting games involving relegation threatened teams.
Tsholotsho have a chance to crush Whawha’s slim hopes of survival when the two sides meet at White City Stadium on Saturday. The Zhwane Boys need to win all their remaining games to retain their PSL slot as they are on 13th place with 23 points, while their opponents are second from the bottom on 20 points.
A victory for Tsholotsho will take them to position 12 for at least 24 hours, and they can only remain there if Hwange fail to beat Buffaloes in Mutare the following day. Buffaloes are a place above the Zhwane Boys with 26 points.
Tsholotsho go into the game knowing that only victory will keep their survival hopes alive. Whawha were clobbered 3-0 by FC Platinum in their previous fixture and will be hoping to spoil Tsholotsho’s mission to remain in the topflight. Flame Lily, who posted a surprising 3-0 away victory against Triangle United at Gibbo Stadium, will be praying that they can pull another shocker when they take on Dynamos on Saturday.
Flame Lily, who have decided to play their match at Lafarge instead of Rufaro, could effectively end DeMbare’s quest for an unprecedented five consecutive league titles if they can brew another shocker. Basement club Dongo Sawmill will host ZPC Kariba on Sunday.
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