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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
MAKOMO coach Rahman Gumbo is wary of his side’s trip to Turk Mine this afternoon for an encounter with Casmyn in a Southern Region Division One League match.
This is an outstanding fixture that should have been played last month, but Gumbo was in South Africa with the Warriors at the Cosafa Cup.
Today’s encounter presents Gumbo and his Makomo lads with an opportunity to reduce the gap between them and log leaders Hwange to seven points.
Hwange have 28 points from 13 outings, while Makomo are in sixth place with 18 points.
Gumbo knows “absolutely nothing” about Casmyn and said he would stick to his game plan, which he declined to divulge.
“To be honest this is a tricky game because I know absolutely nothing about my opponents. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but every game in the Southern Region Division One League is tricky because I’m facing these teams for the first time. However, despite being a tricky encounter, I think my boys are motivated by last weekend’s win and will want to continue with that form,” said Gumbo.
Makomo beat Plumtree side Mainline 2-0, with Morgan Mungombe and Bothwell Nyathi on target.
Casmyn are also buoyant going into today’s match following their 2-1 away win over Toronto.
Makomo have had a bumpy start to their campaign, winning four out of their 12 games. They have drawn six times and lost twice.
Despite their inconsistencies, Gumbo is happy with the progress his team is making.
“The boys took long to understand my philosophy, but I’m seeing lots of progress compared to how we started. The other thing is that we want to gradually build Makomo, tap talent from surrounding areas and even go as far as Binga because I believe that there is abundant talent out there. Our squad is made up of seasoned players, but there is need to gel with young talent that we plan to recruit, because youth is the future of the club,” Gumbo said.
Fixtures
Today: Casmyn v Makomo (Turk Mine)
Saturday: Hwange v Toronto (Hwange, 12PM), Moto Moto v NRZ Leopards (Mpumalanga), Talen Vision vs ZPC Hwange (Gifford, 12PM), Main Line v CIWU (Plumtree), Indlovu Iyanyathela v Makomo (Mzilikazi Barracks, 12PM), Bosso 90 v ZRP Bulawayo Province (Luveve), Casmyn v Zim Leopards (Turk Mine)
Table
P W D L F A GD Pts
Hwange 13 8 4 1 21 7 14 28
ZPC Hwange 13 6 6 1 11 4 7 24
Tsholotsho 13 6 6 1 12 6 6 24
Bosso 90 13 5 5 3 12 10 2 20
Mosi Rovers 13 6 1 6 16 14 2 19
Makomo 12 4 6 2 14 10 4 18
Indlovu Iyanyathela 13 4 6 3 14 12 2 18
Moto Moto 13 4 5 4 10 10 0 17
CIWU 13 3 8 2 9 9 0 17
Zim Leopards 13 4 4 5 12 17 -5 16
*Talen Vision 12 3 6 3 15 11 4 15
Casmyn 12 3 4 5 6 13 -7 13
Main Line 13 3 3 7 9 14 -5 12
NRZ Leopards 13 2 4 7 6 14 -8 10
Toronto 13 0 9 4 6 13 -7 9
*ZRP Bulawayo 12 1 3 8 6 19 -13 6
*Match abandoned.
@ZililoR
Online Reporter