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Joey Antipas

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
WITH just over 48 hours left before the 2014 Castle Lager Premiership season kicks off this Saturday, Bantu Rovers and Chicken Inn believe they are ready.
The two teams will share the opening stage at Luveve Stadium with Premiership returnees Bantu Rovers getting the ball rolling an hour after midday when they take on army outfit Black Rhinos while two hours later Chicken Inn troop onto the same turf for a duel with Harare City. Both matches will be beamed live on Supersport 9.

“We are ready to go,” said Chicken Inn coach, Joey Antipas yesterday.
“It’s going to be a tall order though as we know Harare City have a strong squad and their performance last season was good and so for that we shall give them the due respect.”

Harare City saw their championship hopes slip from their hands in the last match of the season against Caps United.
The championship winning coach with Motor Action said his team was not 100 percent sharp due to the off-season rust but remained confident the boys will rise to the occasion.

“At the moment we haven’t set any benchmarks but we want to take it game by game,” said Antipas.
The game-by-game sentiments were repeated by Bantu Rovers’ general manager Wilbert Sibanda who makes an emotional return to the elite league after their relegation in 2010, having just won three matches all season.

“I believe we are ready for the season but as we don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on the boys, we will take each game as it comes,” said Sibanda.

Tshintsha Guluva will be under the tutelage of Methembe Ndlovu, assisted by Mandla Lulu Mpofu and Farai Sibanda with Wonder Mpofu coming in as the goalkeepers’ coach. A goalscoring sensation during his heydays at Highlanders that saw him having a stint in Germany and a national team call up, Gift Lunga Snr is the technical advisor.

Being the season opener and with Highlanders hunting in Gweru, the double header is likely going to attract a sizeable crowd especially after the PSL pegged minimum gate charges at $3.

Meanwhile, the league has expressed concern over the increase of gate charges by teams last season that saw attendance figures dropping down from 643,000 in 2012 to 495,000 last season.

“Teams might say it’s due to midweek matches but we believe the increases also played a huge part in the attendance figures. These matches are for fans and the sponsor also needs that mileage,” said the Premiership chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele.

There are however, provisions for clubs to apply for gate charges increase but judging by the PSL head of secretariat’s tone, very few applications will be successful this season.

Bulawayo giants Highlanders were charging $5 last season but their total income from gate-charges dropped from $149,152 to $108,888 showing a decrease in attendance figures as the majority of their fans could not afford the $5 ticket.

The city experienced quite a number of company closures, leaving soccer fans with little if any disposable income to spend on watching football. Highlanders though argued that charging $5 had seen them almost breaking even.

Fixtures
Saturday: Caps United vs ZPC Kariba (Gwanzura); Bantu Rovers vs Black Rhinos (Luveve, 1300hrs SS9); Chicken Inn vs Harare City (Luveve,1530hrsSS9); Chapungu vs Highlanders (Ascot)

Sunday: Hwange vs Buffaloes (Colliery); How Mine v Dynamos (Barbourfields)SS9; Shabanie Mine vs Triangle United (Maglas); Chiredzi vs FC Platinum (Gibbo)