SUPER SUNDAY: PSL  decides to stage all the nine matches one day

Tavaka Gumbo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO football fans will be treated to a second double header when Bantu Rovers and Chicken Inn entertain visiting Harare City and Shabanie Mine at Luveve Stadium on a weekend in which the Premier Soccer League has decided to stage all the nine matches tomorrow.

“It’s because most teams played their games on Thursday,” said the league’s communications and media liaison officer Kudzayi Bare.

Action will begin with struggling sides Bantu Rovers and Harare City who will get the ball rolling at 1PM at Luveve Stadium before Rahman Gumbo’s Chicken Inn hosts Shabanie Mine after that.

The other three Bulawayo sides, Bulawayo City, How Mine and Highlanders will be away to mining towns, Amakhosi face off against high riding Ngezi Platinum, the gold miners travel to the Colliery for a date with Hwange at the Colliery Stadium while Amahlolanyama step into the Mandava cauldron to face FC Platinum, the only team yet to lose a league match this season.

Highlanders have already lost twice by identical 0-1 defeats with their last coming on Thursday at the hands of Chicken Inn and tomorrow’s match will, without doubt, test the Bulawayo giants’ title credentials.

Coach Erol Akbay however seems to be at  ease and does not seem to be a worried man though he is playing against a side that has not lost. The same team completely dismantled his boys last season.

“The defeat (to Chicken Inn) is not a problem yet because we still have 25 games to go,” said Akbay.

Perhaps the problem which Akbay might not be aware of is his seemingly trusted central defender, Peter  Muduhwa whose play seems to have gone down compared to his performance last year that saw him being voted one of the 11 best players in the local league.

A truly gifted player, the young man needs to take it easy and appreciate that he still has a lot to learn  as he sometimes seems too over- confident which has cost Highlanders dearly.

The yet to be decided encounter against Dynamos was all out of his doing while the loss to the same side in the Independence Cup final was as a result of his lapse in concentration despite the fact that there was an offside call.

“The boy must know that he is not yet there, he needs to understand the basics of football and that this is Highlanders, bayaphanga bekukhohlwe abantu if you continue making mistakes that eventually cost the team,” said a former Highlanders player.

“With a low head, Muduhwa is one of the future stars of this country, he needs to cool down his emotions as he looks to be an angry player all the time he is on the field of play.”

The Highlanders gaffer said they have also noted that and have been talking to the player to take it easy.

“We talk to him every week,” said Akbay.

Muduhwa ought to count himself luck that he will be part of the squad tomorrow after elbowing Chicken Inn’s Passmore Benard towards the end of the match on Thursday, a foul which calls for an immediate expulsion but referee Hadley Ndazi looked aside.

An irate Gumbo told a press conference that such unsportsmanlike behaviour must not be encouraged and challenged officials to protect players regardless of who the perpetrator was.

Champions Caps United return to the domestic front with an away trip to troubled Triangle United while a mouth watering tie is on the offing at the National Sports Stadium where Dynamos play against ZPC Kariba. Dembare scored a stunning goal against Harare City on Thursday evening through Cameroonian Christian Epoupa.

At Ascot Stadium in Gweru Chapungu will be hoping to add to the woes of winless Tsholotsho who are likely to be under the guidance of schemer Tavaka Gumbo.

FIXTURES

Tomorrow: Bantu Rovers v  Harare City (Luveve Stadium 1300hrs) Chicken Inn FC v Shabanie Mine (Luveve Stadium 1530hrs), Black Rhinos v Yadah FC (Morris Depot Stadium), FC Platinum v Highlanders (Mandava Stadium), Triangle United v Caps United (Gibbo Stadium), Hwange v How Mine ( Colliery Stadium), Dynamos v ZPC Kariba (National Sports Stadium), Ngezi Platinum v Bulawayo City (Baobab Stadium), Chapungu v Tsholotsho (Ascot Stadium).

— @skhumoyo2000.

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