Mucheneka dominates Chicken Inn FC awards
BOX-TO-BOX midfielder, Innocent Mucheneka, scooped two accolades; Player of the Year and joint Top Goal Scorer at the Chicken Inn FC awards ceremony held at a local hotel on Saturday night.
The industrious midfielder, a target of South African Premiership side Maritzburg United, bagged $1 000 for the club’s Player of the Year gong and got $200 for being the joint leading scorer with seven goals.
Mucheneka shared the top scorer’s award with strikers Obidiah Tarumbwa and 21-yearold Obriel Chirinda.
An elated Mucheneka said: “It’s been a competitive year and many thanks go to my coaches and teammates who always support me on the field of play. I’m happy that my contribution to the team has been rewarded like this. I just thank God for the talent that He gave me and the strength to be a positive influence to the team. Hopefully, the 2019 season will be a better year for us.”
Chicken Inn finished the 2018 season in third place behind champions FC Platinum and runners-up Ngezi Platinum Stars.
Defender and captain Moses Jackson walked away with $675 after his teammates voted him as the Players’ Player of the Year.
Veteran Clemence Matawu won the Most Disciplined Player award, taking home $450.
The Longest Serving Player accolade went to defender, Guide Goddard, the only surviving member of the squad that represented Chicken Inn in their maiden 2011 Premiership season.
Sean Guchu, who was promoted from Chicken Inn’s juniors to the first team at the beginning of the season, was rewarded with the Most Improved Player award. Guchu and Goddard got $450 each.
The 2015 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League champions also rewarded the best junior players, giving the best Under-14, 16 and 18 players $75 and school fees for a year.
Allen Rukombo was voted the best Under14 footballer, with the Under-16s winner being Nigel Neshiri, while Leroy Ndlovu got the Under-18s award.
Arthur Chinda, who plays for Chicken Inn’s development side that competes in the Zifa Bulawayo Division Two Soccer League, got $300 for being the best player.
The awards were graced by PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele, officials from Chicken Inn’s parent company Simbisa, club sponsors Black Sharks Security, Zibuko Capital and Bonvie Medical Aid.
“These awards ceremony shows that our sponsors are happy with the performance of the team. We had an incident free season, never been called for any disciplinary hearing or summoned by the league. We are grateful to the support that we received from the sponsors,” said Tawengwa Hara, Chicken Inn’s secretary-general. — @ZililoR