Byo teams in good start Ishmael Wadi
Ishmael Wadi

Ishmael Wadi

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO teams had a perfect start to their 2018 Castle Lager Premier Soccer campaign with local authority bankrolled side Bulawayo City being joint leaders with Ngezi Platinum Stars.

City and Ngezi Platinum Stars won their opening games with identical 2-0 scorelines against Chapungu and Herentals. The two top teams have a goal difference of two goals, one more than Highlanders, Chicken Inn, Nichrut and Shabanie Mine.

The other City of Kings sides which collected maximum points were Chicken Inn who edged Dynamos 1-0 and Highlanders who beat Black Rhinos 2-1.

New Premiership entrants Bulawayo Chiefs were unfortunate as they surrendered a 2-0 lead against Yadah FC in Harare to end the game 2-2 and settle for a point.

Chiefs consoled themselves by saying “a point away is better than losing on your first game.”

Interesting statistics were also recorded on the opening weekend, with teams being potent at goal than last season when 10 goals were scored on the opening weekend which had nine games fixtured. This time around 14 goals were scored from eight matches.

One fixture – ZPC Kariba versus defending champions FC Platinum – wasn’t played as Kariba didn’t travel to the National Sports Stadium, insisting that they wanted to play at Nyamhunga which Zifa certified fit for Premiership games on the Saturday morning.

Kariba are likely to pay dearly for causing controversy on the opening weekend while FC Platinum will just wait for the league to grant them three points on a 3-0 scoreline for walking over the home side.

Unlike last season where five games produced goals, only the Caps United and Harare City encounter ended goalless. Even last season the two sides opened their accounts with 0-0 draws. Caps United were held by Shabanie Mine while Harare City drew with Yadah.

Six wins were recorded in the opening weekend of 2018 compared to just five last season. Interestingly, no away team won on the road compared to last season when FC Platinum beat Dynamos 1-0 in Harare, while Chicken Inn were 5-0 away victors to Bantu Rovers.

The biggest scoring match on Match Day One in 2017 was Chicken Inn’s 5-0 win over Bantu Rovers.

At the weekend, City and Ngezi’s 2-0 victories were the joint top scoring games.

Chicken Inn’s striker Obidiah Tarumbwa who scored one of the goals in Chicken Inn’s 5-0 win over Bantu Rovers last season is the only player from last year’s first day games who managed to find the back of the net in 2018. Tarumbwa scored in the second half to give Chicken Inn victory against Dynamos on Saturday in Bulawayo.

Just like last season, the league also had a player from Bulawayo scoring a brace on the opening day. Bulawayo City’s Ishmael Wadi struck twice at the weekend when the local authority sponsored side beat visiting Chapungu. Last year it was former Chicken Inn’s Ishmael Lawe who scored the first brace of the season.

Bulawayo City didn’t only provide a Match Day One Star in Wadi, they also had a villain coming from their side in the form of Sipho Ndlovu who was red carded for a second bookable offence.

On promoted clubs, last season Shabanie Mine and Yadah drew on day one while Rovers and Black Rhinos lost their games. At the weekend Nichrut got the better of promoted Mutare City who they beat 1-0 with Bulawayo Chiefs holding Yadah 2-2 in Harare.

Results at a glance

Saturday: Bulawayo City 2-0 Chapungu, Ngezi Platinum 2-0 Herentals, ZPC Kariba v FC Platinum (not played), Nichrut 1-0 Mutare City, Yadah FC 2-2 Bulawayo Chiefs, Chicken Inn 1-0 Dynamos

Sunday: Highlanders 2-1 Black Rhinos, Shabanie Mine 1-0 Triangle United, Caps United 0-0 Harare City

Table

P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Bulawayo City    1    1    0    0    2    0    2    3
Ngezi Platinum    1    1    0    0    2    0    2    3
Highlanders    1    1    0    0    2    1    1    3
Chicken Inn    1    1    0    0    1    0    1    3
Nichrut    1    1    0    0    1    0    1    3
Shabanie Mine    1    1    0    0    1    0    1    3
Byo Chiefs    1    0    1    0    2    2    0    1
Yadah FC    1    0    1    0    2    2    0    1
Caps United    1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1
Harare City    1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1
FC Platinum    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
ZPC Kariba    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0
Black Rhinos    1    0    0    1    1    2    -1    0
Dynamos    1    0    0    1    0    1    -1    0
Mutare City    1    0    0    1    0    1    -1    0
Triangle United    1    0    0    1    0    0    -1    0
Chapungu    1    0    0    1    0    2    -2    0
Herentials    1    0    0    1    0    2    -2    0

@ZililoR

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