Triangle quietly doing their business

Jairos Tapera

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THIS season’s Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race focus has largely been centred on former champions Chicken Inn and Dynamos but Triangle United have been quietly doing their business and are just three points behind the log leaders.

Chicken Inn top the log with 23 points, Dynamos are at 22 while Triangle sit on 20.

Triangle are coached by Jairos Tapera and assisted by Patrick Mandizha and former Amazulu goalkeeper Themba Sibanda, who are all doing a great job in transforming the Sugar Boys from an ordinary side into title contenders.

Chicken Inn remain perched at the top of the table following a 3-3 thriller with Manica Diamonds, who are also angling for the championship.

The Gamecocks’ 23 points are from 10 outings and they just managed to fend off fired-up Harare giants Dynamos, who marched to their fifth consecutive win after pipping Black Rhinos 2-1.

The transformation of DeMbare has been a marvel to watch, with head coach Tonderai Ndiraya placing his faith in youngsters and one of the youngsters driving their revival is Bill Antonio.

The Prince Edward High schoolboy displayed sheer individual brilliance to grab Dynamos’ winner in Harare on Sunday when he received a long pass on the left side of goal and breathtakingly dribbled past three Rhinos players and chipped the ball into the net from an acute angle.

Antonio seems to be gaining confidence with each passing game and has brought back some dribbling wizardry, which the local game probably last saw in Johannes Ngodzo, Peter Ndlovu and Vitalis Takawira, among others.

Now that they’ve closed the gap on Chicken Inn to one point, DeMbare are certainly turning the heat on the Gamecocks.

It would, however, be folly to ignore Triangle United, who were lucky to survive a Highlanders’ scare at home as Bosso were twice denied what appeared to be genuine penalty shouts after the home team’s defenders handled in the box in either half.

Highlanders enjoyed dominance, with the upright denying Stanley Ngala a goal for the Bulawayo side.

To their credit, Triangle United managed to contain Bosso’s attacks and with a bit of accuracy, their skipper Donald Ngoma could have punished the visitors at the death.

The point secured by Triangle United was valuable for their title hopes.

“I think we’ve been playing well and the boys’ confidence is growing with each outing. It’s good to post positive results because that’s what management and supporters want. As for the championship race, it’s still too early but what is key is consistency and managing to stay within sight of the top sides. That way, you tend to improve your performances and position yourselves for a better season’s end,” Tapera said.

It wasn’t a bright start for former Zimbabwe international Benjani Mwaruwari as Ngezi Platinum Stars’ coach, as his side drew 1-1 with Bulawayo Chiefs, who had also made technical adjustments by bringing back former head coach Thulani Sibanda to assist Nilton Terroso.

The Portuguese gaffer returned on Sunday morning and headed to the dugout as Chiefs tried to break their winless streak.

The draw against Chiefs left Ngezi on 16 points, seven adrift of Chicken Inn while the Ninjas took their tally to 10 and remained glued in 12th place.

At the tail-end of the table, Bulawayo City moved to second from the bottom when they were beaten 2-1 by Cranborne Bullets at Sakubva Stadium.

City who are finding the going tough, have only six points from 10 games and are just a
a point above another struggling PSL returnee Whawha.

Whawha lost 1-0 to reigning champions FC Platinum and are just four points away from safety.

Yadah registered their first win of the season, edging Herentals 2-1 to take their points’ tally to eight and in the process leapfrogging City.

Results at a glance
Saturday: Chicken Inn 3-3 Manica Diamonds,

Yadah 2-1 Herentals College,

FC Platinum 1-0 Whawha,

Cranbourne Bullets 2-1 Bulawayo City,

ZPC Kariba 2-1 Harare City

Sunday: Bulawayo Chiefs 1-1 Ngezi Platinum Stars,

Triangle United 0-0 Highlanders,

Tenax 2-1 Caps United,