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Ricky Zililo,  Senior Sports Reporter
TEN teams are staring the Castle Lager Premiership axe, but with seven matches remaining in the campaign, table anchors Bantu Rovers and second from the bottom Tsholotsho appear to be the real relegation contenders.

After this past weekend’s round of fixtures, Black Rhinos (9th), Triangle (10th), Chapungu (11th), Bulawayo City (12th), Yadah (13th), and Harare City (14th) are in a spitting distance of the drop zone.

Only six points separate Black Rhinos who are on 36 points and Shabanie Mine who occupy the final relegation slot after 27 games.

The bottom four teams at the end of the season will be relegated and as things stand, the quartet are Bantu Rovers, Tsholotsho, Hwange and Shabanie Mine.

These 10 teams make this season’s relegation fight arguably the closest in recent years and these sides cannot guarantee their fans that they will be playing at match venues such as Rufaro and Barbourfields Stadiums next year.

Harare City who lost 2-1 to Dynamos are only one point above 15th placed Shabanie Mine and five over 16th placed Hwange, meaning that the  Sunshine City Boys need to pull their sleeves and steer away from the relegation hole.

Of the six strugglers — Chapungu, Bulawayo City, Yadah FC, Harare City, Shabanie Mine and Hwange —Chapungu, Shabanie Mine and Hwange were able to pick up maximum points.

Chapungu edged ZPC Kariba at home while Shabanie also bettered their survival chances with a 3-1 victory over last placed Bantu Rovers.

Hwange took their points tally to 26, giving them a glimmer of hope that they might pull out of the relegation hellhole as they beat visiting Bulawayo City 1-0.

Yadah FC picked a valuable point on the road as they forced a 2-2 away draw at Triangle United.

What the coaches said after weekend results:

Harare City coach Philani Ncube could not hide his disappointment with his players. Ncube said the Sunshine Boys lacked quality as they dropped into the relegation jigsaw puzzle following the defeat.

“Individually we don’t have quality but I’m happy with the way that we played, although we couldn’t convert. If we had managed to score a goal in the first half perhaps we could have been talking about a different thing altogether. But that’s football,” said Ncube.

Hwange coach Bigboy Mawiwi was all smiles after the game.

“This is an important win for us against difficult opponents coming from three losses and I am happy that we got the points which relieves some pressure off us in this fight against relegation. I can afford a deep sleep today,” said a beaming Mawiwi.

Chapungu coach Tendai Chikuni was relieved to collect maximum points in a game they never came to the party themselves.

“We were not at our best but we managed to grind a result. We are coming from a defeat and we desperately wanted this win. The games are coming very fast and fatigue is creeping in, most of our first team players are also injured and we need to manage this situation.

“But getting a result without some of our regular players shows that we have what it takes to survive relegation at the end of the season,” said Chikuni.

Yadah coach Thomas Ruzive said: “The away point is very crucial to us at this stage of the season, I thought we had a chance to kill the game and go back to Harare with all three points but my boys lacked concentration towards the end but it’s bitter sweet and I am happy we managed to snatch a point with the last kick of the match.”

Shabanie Mine head coach Takesure Chiragwi was happy with the result but said his players could have done better. “It was important for us to get three points today but we did not play well. We will keep fighting to get out of the relegation zone and it’s encouraging to pick maximum points on the road,” Chiragwi said.

Results

Saturday: Black Rhinos 1-2 How Mine, FC Platinum 1-1 Caps United, Ngezi Platinum 0-0 Tsholotsho FC

Sunday: Hwange 1-0 Bulawayo City, Chapungu 1-0 ZPC Kariba, Triangle United 2-2 Yadah FC, Dynamos 2-1 Harare City, Chicken Inn 0-4 Highlanders, Bantu Rovers 1-3 Shabanie Mine

Table
P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Dynamos    27    17    5    5    46    20    26    56
Ngezi Platinum     27    16    5    6    46    25    21    53
FC Platinum    27    14    11    2    28    13    15    53
Chicken Inn    27    16    3    8    28    17    11    51
How Mine    27    12    7    8    26    27    -1    43
Caps United    26    11    9    6    34    24    10    41
ZPC Kariba    27    11    6    10    26    24    2    39
Highlanders    26    10    7    9    25    23    2    37
Black Rhinos    27    10    6    11    29    24    5    36
Triangle United    27    9    9    9    29    29    0    36
Chapungu    27    8    9    10    16    22    -6    33
Bulawayo City    27    9    5    13    29    35    -6    32
Yadah FC    27    8    8    11    24    32    -8    32
Harare City    27    8    7    12    21    22    -1    31
Shabanie Mine    27    7    9    11    20    27    -7    30
Hwange    27    7    5    15    22    34    -12    26
Tsholotsho FC    27    3    11    13    16    34    -18    20
Bantu Rovers    27    3    4    20    23    55    -32    13
— @ZililoR