WE’RE STILL IN THE RACE, SAYS A DEFIANT LUPHAHLA

Innocent Kurira

Zimpapers Sports Hub

SIMBA Bhora coach Joel Luphahla says he will not throw in the towel in the championship race despite his men trailing leaders and favourites Scottland by six points with just nine points on offer.

The Shamva side have lost form at the wrong time and lost their last league game against Ngezi Platinum Stars at Baobab.

The champions will host Highlanders at Wadzanai on Saturday. “With nine points still to play for, we can’t throw in the towel now. We’re still in the race,” he said.

“We’re going to find solutions. We need to know how to finish games, learn to start our season well and finish strongly.

“It’s a game of mixed emotions since we haven’t won in a long time.

‘‘It’s high time we bounced back to winning ways. We haven’t done well since getting knocked out of the CAF Champions League, and we need to find a solution to that problem.

“We have to find out where we lost it and try to get back to our best. We already lost one home game this season against CAPS United, and we can’t lose again.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost form at the wrong time in this campaign.”

Luphahla has declared there will be no favours for his boyhood club.

Luphahla, who made his name at Bosso, has deep emotional ties to the Bulawayo giants.

But, as the reigning champions chase what’s left of their fading title dreams, he insists professionalism will come before sentiment.

“It’s a tough game playing Highlanders. We know their situation in the league. It puts me under the spotlight given my connection with Highlanders, but there are no favours, we need to be professional and compete in a professional manner.

“If they are to win, they have to play better than us,” said Luphahla.

While Simba Bhora fight to stay in the title picture, Highlanders are in an unfamiliar position, fighting to stay in the top-flight league.

Bosso are hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone and will be desperate to recover after their Chibuku Super Cup heartbreak last weekend, where they fell to Dynamos on penalties.

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Fixtures

Saturday

TelOne v Greenfuel (Ascot)

MWOS v Triangle (Ngoni)

Chicken Inn v CAPS United (Luveve)

Manica Diamonds v Ngezi Platinum (Sakubva)

Simba Bhora v Highlanders (Wadzanayi)

Herentals v Yadah Stars (Rufaro)

ZPC Kariba v FC Platinum (Nyamhunga)

Sunday

Kwekwe United v Scottland (Ascot)

Dynamos v Bikita Minerals (Rufaro)