adminUnited, hit headlines last season with their financial muscle by acquiring some of the country’s best players that included Soccer Star of the Year Washington Arubi, Benjamin Marere and Murape Murape.
The club loaned most of their stars to Premiership clubs and they found the going tough as they went for seven games without registering a win before eventually settling for fifth place on the log.
Despite losing six of their influential players at the start of the new season, “Chamboko Chewaya” as Twalumba are affectionately known, assembled a formidable side that is vying for the sole ticket into the top-flight league.
Twalumba lost Isaac Madziva, Fortune Ncube, Ngoni Maviri and Protash Kabwe to Motor Action while Dion Homela and Harris Kajubi moved to Bulawayo-based side Bantu Rovers.
Twalumba have played eight games this season in which they won four, drew three and lost once and they are currently on third place with 15 points, two behind joint leaders Black Rhinos and ZPC Kariba.
Technical team manager, Mutekede is happy with his team’s performance so far and is optimistic that they will win the championship this year.
“We are looking for a much better performance level than last year and so far it’s looking good. The chances are clear and the reflections are quite encouraging.
“We have assembled a youthful side and we have blended them with some senior players and the team is playing some good football.
“We are happy with what we have achieved so far and it’s looking quite promising,” said Mutekede.
He also said that while they stand a chance of finishing on top of the table at the end of the season, they would not put themselves under any pressure.
“We do fancy our chances of gaining promotion into the Premier League but at the same time we wouldn’t want to put ourselves under pressure.
“Northern Region is a very competitive league. There are usually no run-away winners and that’s why you saw that it was determined on the final day last season.
“We want to keep on picking up as many points as we can so that we avoid last season’s backlash,” said Mutekede.
Twalumba’s mettle will be put to test in their next assignment when they take on log leaders Black Rhinos.
Rhinos have been in great form recently powered by the exploits of former La Liga forward Lot Chiunga who has scored in each of the army side’s last two victories.
Meanwhile, pressure kept on piling on Scotia coach Droment Chirova after his side went down 1-0 to Twalumba over the weekend.
Scotia remained the only team yet to register a win this term and they are currently anchoring the league table with four points.
Power Master, who had gone for a three-match losing streak, finally remembered how to win after posting a 1-0 win against Jumbo Giants.
Ronald Zimbudzana scored the important goal for the Tonderai Marume-coached side.
Online Reporter