‘Rovers not panicking’

Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
BANTU Rovers general manager Wilbert Sibanda says they are not pressing any panic buttons yet despite losing eight games from their 10 outings in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.

Rovers are 17th on the league table with six points, two ahead of bottom placed Tsholotsho FC.

Life has not been easy for Tshintsha Guluva since their promotion into the topflight, as they lost their first two matches to Chicken Inn (0-5) and FC Platinum (3-2). They tasted their first win by beating Triangle 1-0 before recording three consecutive losses to Black Rhinos (3-0), Hwange (2-3) and Hwange FC (1-0).

Rovers went on to thump Yadah FC 7-2 before a 1-2 loss to Highlanders was followed by a 4-1 mauling by Shabanie Mine and 0-2 loss to Harare City.

“We are on the right path and what happens is that when a club is starting at the beginning of the year, you set your goals and know what you want to achieve. As Bantu Rovers, we are on the right track.

A lot of youngsters are getting a lot of game time in the squad and they are improving with each game. If you look at the score lines of the matches we have lost, they are different from the first game. We have been improving with each game and right now it’s too early to be pressing any panic buttons,” Sibanda said at the club’s weekly press conference yesterday.

Bantu Rovers’ next assignment will be a tricky encounter against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga Stadium tomorrow and coach Methembe Ndlovu is under no illusion of the task ahead of him.

ZPC Kariba are fourth on the league table with 19 points from 11 outings.

“We have a lot of respect for ZPC Kariba and it’s not going to be an easy match. All we can do is to focus on our preparation and hope it’s enough for the day. We can’t really control the results, but what we can only do is to prepare and go out there to win. ZPC Kariba will be at home and they have been in the league for quite some compared to us, so they are much experienced. Even their coach (Sunday Chidzambwa) everyone knows he is a legend both as a player and a coach so the match won’t be easy,” Ndlovu said.

— @khumzallen.