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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
CHICKEN Inn coach, Rahman Gumbo, has declared that his side is gunning for the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title while other coaches are smarting from their yoyo performances.

In his post-match interview after Chicken Inn edged Bulawayo City 1-0 on Sunday, Gumbo was bullish, declaring that his team had set its eyes on the championship and would dismantle any side that attempts to stand in the way.

“I’ve never been a pretender and in this race we’re not pretenders, but contenders. I influence my players in a positive way and if they continue giving me 1-0 wins I’m happy. We’re in a very interesting race. In the next few weeks, just watch how pretenders will be plucked out from the contenders’ circle. We’re title contenders and we’re going for it,” a daring Gumbo said.

That’s a bold statement from a multi-championship winning coach, who won titles with Highlanders, Malawi’s MTN Wanderers and Township Rollers of Botswana.

On Sunday, a 12th minute goal by Innocent Mucheneka powered Chicken Inn to maximum points. The victory took Chicken Inn’s points tally to 35, two behind log leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars, who battered Hwange 4-1 at Baobab Stadium in Mhondoro.

Chicken Inn are now third on the league table, tied on 35 points with second-placed FC Platinum, who they face in Zvishavane on Saturday.

Among teams vying for the title are Ngezi, who continue to fire warning shots every week.

Ngezi have scored the most goals, eight, in the two opening matches of the second round of the season. They first dismissed army side Black Rhinos 4-2 in Harare last week and then clobbered Hwange 4-1 at home.

Godknows Murwira, a 2016 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Soccer Star of the Year finalist, scored a brace against Hwange and showed great technique by scoring one of his goals direct from a corner kick.

Third-placed FC Platinum laboured to a 1-0 victory over second from the bottom side Bantu Rovers, with Rodwell Chinyengetere scoring for the Zvishavane miners.

They reinforced their squad with veterans Takesure Chinyama, Mkhokheli Dube and Ali Sadiki.

Dube and Sadiki seem to have settled well, but Chinyama is a pale shadow of his yesteryear form when he used to trouble defenders during his time at Dynamos.

Chinyama could prove to be a bad buy for FC Platinum, as he put up a lifeless show in the few minutes he was on the field after coming on for the injured Dube towards the end of the Rovers’ encounter.

Harare giants Dynamos returned to Rufaro Stadium with a bang by seeing off Triangle United 2-1 and in the process moving two places up the ladder into position four.

DeMbare bagged maximum points courtesy of Tawanda Macheke and Ocean Mushure’s goals. They leapfrogged How Mine, who drew 0-0 against Tsholotsho FC, and Black Rhinos who were trounced 0-3 by Chapungu.

Dynamos cannot be ignored in the title race and with 33 points from 17 games; the Harare giants will soon be awarded three points for the abandoned June 18 match against Chapungu.

The game against Chapungu was called off after 56 minutes with Dynamos leading 4-0 after the goal post collapsed at Ascot Stadium.

Bulawayo giants Highlanders recovered from a lifeless 2-1 loss to Bulawayo City to beat Shabanie Mine 2-0 at Maglas Stadium.

Bosso moved into seventh place and are now six points behind leaders Ngezi.

Godfrey Makaruse and Ralph Matema were on target for Bosso.

Results
Saturday: Bantu Rovers 0-1 FC Platinum, Tsholotsho FC 1-1 How Mine, ZPC Kariba 0-0 Yadah FC, Harare City 3-2 Caps United (Rufaro)

Yesterday: Shabanie Mine 0-2 Highlanders, Dynamos 2-1 Triangle United, Chicken Inn 1-0 Bulawayo City, Chapungu 3-0 Black Rhinos, Ngezi Platinum 4-1 Hwange

Table
P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Ngezi Platinum    19    11    4    4    33    18    15    37
FC Platinum    18    9    8    1    18    8    10    35
Chicken Inn    18    11    2    5    17    7    10    35
*Dynamos    17    10    3    4    25    16    9    33
How Mine    19    9    6    4    15    12    3    33
Black Rhinos     18    9    4    5    23    14    9    31
Highlanders    18    9    4    5    20    15    5    31
ZPC Kariba    19    8    5    6    19    16    3    29
Triangle United    19    6    7    6    18    19    -1    25
*Chapungu    18    6    6    6    13    13    0    24
Shabanie Mine    19    5    7    7    13    16    -3    22
Harare City    19    5    6    8    13    14    -1    21
Bulawayo City    18    6    3    9    18    22    -4    21
Yadah FC    19    5    5    9    15    22    -7    20
Hwange    19    4    5    9    15    24    -9    17
Caps United    12    3    5    4    16    13    3    14
Bantu Rovers    19    2    3    14    18    39    -21    9
Tsholotsho FC    19    0    7    12    9    30    -21    7

*match abandoned

@ZililoR