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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
AFTER suffering their first league defeat in more than a year, FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza says ZPC Kariba — under the guidance of veteran coach Sunday Chidzambwa — are dark horses in the championship race. ZPC Kariba eased into the second position over the weekend when they handed the Zvishavane miners a 2-1 defeat at Mandava to halt an unbeaten run, which had stretched for 28 games.
Kauya Katuruturu are now two points behind pacesetters. “They will be a force to reckon with this season, teams have to watch out for them and keep an eye on them,” said Mapeza, whose men will meet champions Chicken Inn in their next encounter.
“We are not really in shock and people are surprised because we have been playing well but it was going to happen. It is going to be a long season. “We will bounce back and that is the most important thing.
“It is a game of football and we can suffer defeats, it just needs the mental strength to bounce back in the next game. It is not like we have lost five games in a row. “I knew it was going to happen one day, it is a good wake-up call and the most important thing is to lift ourselves up.”
Mapeza believes they lost the battle in the defence. “We played a very good side which is very organised. They are organised defensively. We managed to get good opportunities but it’s now all water under the bridge,” said Mapeza.
“It was a good game of football. We had our chances, good chances in the first half. We conceded from set pieces.” Chidzambwa said it was a balanced match. “The game was balanced. I think Norman has a good side, we put away our chances, we scored from a corner and a free-kick,” said Chidzambwa.
“We cannot really talk about the title race because the marathon is still long but we want to continue doing well so that we keep up with the leading pack.”
Online Reporter