Chicken Inn……………… 0 Bulawayo Chiefs…. (0) 1
BULAWAYO Chiefs pulled off another giant-killing act to ease their relegation woes after they stunned third place Chicken Inn in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
BY FORTUNE MBELE IN BULAWAYO
Mired in a relegation dog-fight, Chiefs occupied 14th place going into yesterday’s Bulawayo derby and were desperate for points with four matches remaining in the season.
After a poor first half show, Bulawayo Chiefs’ Gracious Mleya beat Chicken Inn goalkeeper Pride Zendera with a header from a Malvin Mkolo cross to ensure his side moved up the ladder to position 11 with 35 points before their mid-week clash at the same venue against bottom-placed Shabanie Mine.
Coming from Division One last year, Chiefs have accounted for log-leaders FC Platinum, contenders Ngezi Platinum and Highlanders in their maiden PSL campaign.
Chicken Inn fell to a side that has not been training for 10 days with Bulawayo Chiefs’ players on strike demanding unpaid allowances from the executive.
Chiefs’ technical analyst Thulani Sibanda said their stay in the Premier Soccer League would be determined by how they collect points in the last four games.
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“The win gives us a lot of hope in terms of who goes down. It is how we are going to be collecting points in the remaining games,” Sibanda said.
His counterpart Joey Antipas said it was their worst performance of this season.
“Well done to Bulawayo Chiefs; they managed to get the maximum points. We had a poor performance; one of the worst this season by our standards. The two-week break killed our momentum. We were just poor,” Antipas said.
The GameCocks had a considerable number of chances in the first half which they failed to utilise.
However, the Gamecocks have little to fight for as they are virtually out of the title race and sit comfortably third on the log standings.
Teams:
Chicken Inn: P Zendera, P Bernard, X Ndlovu, G Majika (O Tarumbwa 69’), M Jackson, S Munawa, O Chirinda (K Nasama 46’), W Kamudyariwa, N Mutatiwa (D Nyandoro 63’), C Matawu, L Sithole.
Bulawayo Chiefs: D Bizabani, S Nyahwa, M Majika, M Mkolo, L Matizirofa, T Muzuva, G Mleya, F Matare (S Mhlanga 73’), K Chakanyuka (S Ngala 54’), P Chikwende, S Dube.