Chicken Inn seek redemption Shabanie fancy chances against Chicken Inn
CHAMPIONSHIP chasing Chicken Inn will be seeking to bounce back to winning ways at the expense of relegation threatened Shabanie Mine when the two sides lock horns in a league match at Maglas Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
The encounter will be the first of an action packed weekend that might see Bulawayo side Bantu Rovers officially relegated from the Premier Soccer League if they lose to Harare City at Rufaro Stadium on Saturday, provided the GameCocks continue with their sudden loss of form and lose to Shabanie Mine tomorrow.
Bantu Rovers can only end the season on 34 points even if they win all their remaining seven games but a loss will see them mathematically ending on 31 points and not enough to extricate themselves from the gallows of relegation. It is therefore in the interest of Tshintsha Guluva that Shabanie Mine lose their game tomorrow.
The GameCocks go into tomorrow’s encounter on the backdrop of a 4-0 hammering by their neighbours Highlanders in the league while they were also booted out of the Chibuku Super Cup via a boardroom decision after allegedly walking out of their encounter against Yadah FC at Ascot Stadium, the same side that put a halt to their nine game unbeaten run in the league.
There is no doubt that the Maglas encounter, set to be beamed live on SuperSport, will produce all the fireworks SHABANIE Mine football club technical manager Taku Shariwa has stoked flames ahead of their clash against Chicken Inn by boldly declaring that the Bulawayo side is coming to Zvishavane to donate points.
Chicken Inn are among the three teams favoured to win the championship this season but Shariwa feels that his club just like Caps United, are party spoilers.
“Chicken Inn are going to award us three points on Friday afternoon and we are already eagerly waiting for the donation. We are not going to be doing FC Platinum any favours as some people always say but we will be playing football so that we move a little bit up. Everyone knows that we are in the relegation zone so how can we just allow them to collect maximum points?
“We respect Rahman Gumbo
reminiscent of sides fighting for different reasons, Shabanie Mine — survival while Chicken Inn have their eyes firmly set on the championship. They go into Zvishavane pegged on position four with 51 points, five behind leaders Dynamos but might return to the City of Kings just two points behind The Glamour Boys who have a tricky encounter away to ZPC Kariba on Saturday. ZPC Kariba coach Sunday Chidzambwa has already said he will not do any favours to his boyhood side. “I am a Dynamos son but at the moment I am contracted to ZPC Kariba so once we are on the pitch, it is a different game (Chicken Inn coach) as he has done extremely well in Zimbabwe and abroad and has won the championship several times. He is a revered coach. We respect a number of players in their team but they are going to face a fired up Shabanie Mine on Friday and despite us being a team with average players we are going to try and do our best,” said Shariwa.
The Zvishavane side has a strong belief in their youngsters who are slowly becoming a formidable side under the captainship of former Dynamos forward Farai Mupasiri. Since losing to Tsholotsho in Beitbridge, the team has gone for eight games without a defeat even posting shocking results against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga which showed their pedigree.
They have drawn against Dynamos, won against Ngezi Platinum at home and they are hoping that the Gamecocks will be their next victim.
Wellington Taderera who was plucked from Division One with six goals to his credit has been a revelation and with Nyasha Mpofu and Wilson Mupasiri in the lineup, Chicken Inn are likely to find the going tough.
altogether, my allegiance will be to my team. I know Dynamos have been doing well hence they are on top of the log. We haven’t been doing well but we want to do well in this game. I am looking at a game of football for 90 minutes.
“Those who score more goals will come out victors, but it is not going to be an easy match for us,’’ Chidzambwa told our Harare Bureau.
Second placed Ngezi Platinum come to Bulawayo for an encounter with a not so safe Bulawayo City at Barbourfields Stadium in another match that will be beamed live on SuperSport on Saturday while Luveve Stadium will be a venue for mining sides when How Mine play host to Hwange. A seemingly resurrected Tsholotsho square up against Chapungu at Dulivhadzimo while Yadah FC and Black Rhinos complete the Saturday action. MAKOKOBA Member of Parliament Tshinga Dube in conjuction with a South Korea-based organisation will tomorrow launch the T J Dube Foundation football tournament that will see talented youngsters from the area getting scholarships to the Asian nation.
In a brief statement last night, Dube said the launch will be held at St Columbus High School with the football tournament to be played early next month at White City Stadium.
“We have partnered with an organisation called Kiona Charity, from Seoul that has provided us with soccer balls and playing kits. The aim really is to assist underprivileged but talented players who are Under-18 years as we are going to choose two who will go to South Korea to further their football skills on full sponsorship,” said Dube.
Tomorrow’s launch will be attended by the charity organisation’s director, Weng Chen who was expected to touch down at the Harare International Airport last night.
“There shall be eight teams competing in the tournament, six from Bulawayo, one from Harare and another one made up of international guests. I just want to give a life time opportunity to youngsters from Makokoba constituency as we will also give scholarships to academically talented but less fortunate youngsters,” said Dube.