daniel chigunweRay Bande in MUTARE
MUTARE-BASED Castle Lager Premiership football side Tenax CS chairman, Stephan Masina, is convinced that his team have shaken off the stage fright that badly affected them when they played their early top-flight league matches and are now geared to end the season on a respectable position.
In the season opening round of the league matches, Tenax, who face Herentals at Sakubva on Sunday, were in for a rude awakening when they suffered a heavy 1-6 defeat at the hands of champions FC Platinum away at Mandava.
This result, coupled with some glaring financial challenges that the club had been going through, left neutrals with the impression that their stay in the top-flight league was going to be short-lived.
However, things changed for the better on the field of play for the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services outfit as they started posting relatively impressive results.
As the 2021/2022 Castle Lager Premiership season went on, the away goalless stalemate against highly-rated Bulawayo Chiefs sent a different signal and a similar result against Highlanders at home completely changed the script for Tenax’s critics.
Interestingly, Tenax started getting better results upon the resumption of Premiership football action after they had not only lost key player Farai Mugumwa to cross-town rivals Manica Diamonds but also with a squad made up of little known players.
Thus chairman Masina believes more is still to come from the correctional services outfit.
Masina said the heavy defeat against FC Platinum put them under pressure but the recent results have instilled confidence among the players and the fans as well.
“We were under pressure because of the results that we got from our early matches, especially the 1-6 defeat at the hands of FC Platinum. But I am happy that we remained focused and as the season progressed, we really boosted our confidence through the results we then managed to get,” he said.
Masina noted that Sunday’s match against Herentals is a must-win encounter for them.
“It is a must-win game for us as a club. Without taking anything away from Herentals, they are a very good side and we respect them for that but we just need to win the match on Sunday. It is a home match, we will be playing before our home crowd hence much is expected from us,” he said.
Masina touched on their efforts to find lasting solutions to their financial woes.
“The team is still looking for sponsorship though for now we have a few projects to sustain the club. Some of them are deals which are still to be signed though already bearing fruits. We will update the Tenax family and the nation at large when everything has been finalised and signed,” he said.
On the composition of the team, which is made up of little known players, Masina said: “It was not a deliberate move to have no big names in the squad as such but a combination of hard work and effort of the Tenax family has seen us being able to assemble a competitive side even with those little known players.
“With support from our management and a few individuals we are working with, we are matching the standards in the Premiership and that is the reason why we are playing well in the league.
“All I can say is that Chauya Chikara is a force to reckon with. We will protect the brand in the Premiership and we are in the league to stay not to add numbers in the relegation zone.”
Online Reporter