Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
MWOS are hoping their Chibuku Super Cup momentum will inspire their title-push revival in the Premier Soccer League.
The Punters have been next to miserable in their past four league games, picking just two points out of a possible 12.
As a result, they surrendered top spot on the log to Simba Bhora whom they now trail with five points going into the last 10 games of the season.
Actually they have to put in the shift more as they are not only chasing down the defending champions but Scottland as well, who are only a point off the leaders with 46 points under their belt.
The Lloyd Mutasa tyres are losing their threads in a race they led for most of the first half of the season.
But the Norton club have shown that they are not entirely out of their depth after destroying CAPS United in the Chibuku Super Cup first round at Ngoni Stadium last weekend.
With the same structure but a bit of personnel changes, MWOS crashed the Green Machine with a commanding 2-0 win to advance to the last eight of the country’s biggest knock-out tournament.
And they are praying that they carry last weekend’s form into their titanic league clash against Simba Bhora at Ngoni tomorrow.
Winless in their last four games, the Norton team knows well that they will recover significant ground with a win over the leaders tomorrow.
Of course Scottland could be in top place by the time the Punters host Chinhu Chedu, if the Mabvuku team can fashion out a win against ZPC Kariba at Rufaro this afternoon.
But for MWOS, what matters is picking the maximum points and get back their title push firmly on track.
Seasoned defender Innocent Zambezi, who played as the lone man at the heart of a three-man defensive structure for the first time against his former club CAPS United last weekend, yesterday told Zimpapers Sports Hub;
“It’s been too long for us without winning matches in the Premier Soccer League.
“I think this is the longest spell we have taken as MWOS without collecting the maximum points since the start of the season.
“And that has taken really a huge knock on our confidence levels. It’s really bad,” said Zambezi.
“The good thing, but a small percentage though, is that we remain up there because we did so well in most of our games in the first half of the season.
“So we are looking for that spark again to carry us back on the road.
“I don’t think we are too far off the leaders in the league.
“I think our win against CAPS United in the Chibuku Super Cup was a confidence booster in a way. We are hoping to carry that positivity into the league.”
And the positivity should start showing tomorrow when they face Simba Bhora in what is being widely seen as a title-decider of some sort.
If Simba Bhora win, they will not only retain their place at the top but, steer further away from MWOS stretching the gap between them and the Punters to eight points just 27 points to play for.
That will be catastrophic for a team that promised so much going for the first 16 games of the season without tasting defeat and capturing the imagination of many in the process.
“Of course we are a new team in the Premier Soccer League but that doesn’t make us any smaller.
“We have ambitions too, at an individual and team levels. That’s why we will fight until the very end,” added Zambezi.
“We are very much aware of the role that we need to play as individuals and as a team. We worked so hard throughout and we can’t just give up so easily.
“Simba Bhora is a big team and they are the champions but we need to win especially at home. We managed to grind out a point when we forced a goalless draw when we played them in the reverse fixture in Shamva.
“It will be a tough match, that’s granted but we need to do more.”
As much as helping the league newcomers to become a significant subject in the championship topic, Zambezi himself has also transformed himself into a giant player the country never knew existed in his average frame.
The MWOS environment has given him the wings that he never possessed during his quiet spells at Harare City and CAPS United.
Zambezi is the natural leader in the field of play for MWOS given most of his teammates including captain Tafadzwa Nyabunze are only playing in the league for the first time.
“Yes I am one of the senior guys at MWOS right now. I am happy about that. It drives me so that I should lead by example,” continued Zambezi.
“In a way that has helped me improve and do things that I never thought I was able to since I made my Premiership debut at Harare City six years ago.”
The defender has helped the Punters both defensively and offensively, scoring three goals and providing five assists so far this season.
