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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship race has reached an exciting stage with four teams proving to be real contenders as pretenders lose grip.

It looks like the “men” who have been separated from the “boys” in as far as the title race is concerned are leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars, Chicken Inn, Dynamos and FC Platinum.

The top four have been consistent performers in their quest to keep up with the demands of being among the favourites.

At the turn of the half, all the top eight teams were counted among the championship contenders with just four points separating the then top side Black Rhinos who were on 31 points and eighth placed ZPC Kariba.

But four games into the second half of the season, Black Rhinos find themselves stuck with 31 points and have slipped to position eight, trailing leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars by 12 points.

Only four points separate Ngezi Platinum Stars and fourth on the table FC Platinum who are tied on 39 points with third placed Dynamos.

Coached by Tonderai Ndiraya, Ngezi Platinum Stars continue to fire statements of intent having scored an incredible 14 goals in their four second half of the season consecutive victories. They have only conceded five goals during the period.

On Wednesday, Ngezi Platinum Stars sent packing Yadah FC who they beat 4-1 at home and collected maximum points that saw them maintain a point lead over 2015 champions, Chicken Inn.

Rahman Gumbo led Chicken Inn have been making lots of noise and dispatched visiting Triangle United 2-0 courtesy of goals by skipper Moses Jackson and Soccer Star of the Year contender Innocent Mucheneka.

Last weekend’s 1-1 draw against FC Platinum robbed Chicken Inn of the top spot, but it is their ability to bounce back to winning ways and a good teamwork aided by a superb transition from defence to attack that makes them real title aspirants.

The team with the best title shot is third placed Dynamos who managed to bounce back from a MatchDay 18 3-1 loss against FC Platinum to record three consecutive wins over Triangle United, Black Rhinos and the Wednesday 2-0 win against Hwange.

Dynamos have 39 points from 19 matches and look set to bag three points for the rescheduled Chapungu game which had to be abandoned after 56 minutes with DeMbare leading 4-0 when a goalpost fell.

The PSL disciplinary committee ruled that the match be played from 56 minutes with Dynamos leading 4-0.

Dynamos also have another game in hand against struggling champions Caps United whose title defence hopes were thrown into disarray when they drew 1-1 with table anchors Tsholotsho FC on Thursday in Bulawayo.

Dynamos’ title cause is being led by skipper Ocean Mushure who seems to have developed a knack for scoring important goals for the team. Mushure has been on target in Dynamos’ three consecutive wins.

Old horse Takesure Chinyama opened his goal scoring account for FC Platinum in the 3-1 midweek win against Bulawayo City as the platinum miners kept their title hopes alive.

How Mine’s championship campaign could have been affected by unrest caused by the club’s failure to pay the players.

The goldminers’ players went for the 0-0 away draw against Chapungu having gone for three months without pay. The players are also owed signing-on fees as well as winning bonuses which they have not been paid since the start of the season.

How Mine are yet to register a win in the four second half of the season games, drawing three matches and losing once, 2-1 to Ngezi Platinum Stars.

ZPC Kariba piled misery on ailing Bulawayo giants Highlanders who are now 11 points behind the leaders Ngezi Platinum Stars when they beat Bosso 2-0 in Kariba.

Looking at Highlanders’ performances, winning the championship is now a pipe dream.

Results
Wednesday, August 9: FC Platinum 3-1 Bulawayo City, Ngezi Platinum 4-1 Yadah FC, Chapungu 0-0 How Mine, Chicken Inn 2-0 Triangle United, Bantu Rovers 1-0 Black Rhinos, Harare City 2-0 Shabanie Mine (Rufaro), Dynamos 2-0 Hwange

Thursday, August 10: ZPC Kariba 2-0 Highlanders, Tsholotsho FC 1-1 Caps United

Table

P    W    D    L    F    A    GD    Pts
Ngezi Platinum    21    13    4    4    39    20    19    43
Chicken Inn    21    13    3    5    23    9    14    42
*Dynamos    19    12    3    4    28    16    12    39
FC Platinum    20    10    9    1    22    10    12    39
How Mine    21    9    7    5    16    14    2    34
ZPC Kariba    21    9    5    7    21    17    4    32
Highlanders    20    9    5    6    20    17    3    32
Black Rhinos    20    9    4    7    23    16    7    31
Triangle United    21    7    7    7    19    21    -2    28
Harare City    21    6    7    8    15    14    1    25
*Chapungu    20    6    7    7    13    15    -2    25
Bulawayo City    20    7    3    10    22    25    -3    24
Shabanie Mine    21    5    7    9    13    21    -8    22
Yadah FC    21    5    6    10    16    26    -10    21
Hwange    21    5    5    10    17    26    -9    20
Caps United    15    4    6    5    19    17    2    18
Bantu Rovers    21    3    3    15    19    40    -21    12
Tsholotsho FC    21    0    9    12    10    31    -21    9

*match abandoned

@ZililoR