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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

THE top two Southern Region Division One League sides, Bulawayo City and Talen Vision will play today’s games simultaneously, with city hosting lowly- placed Toronto, while Vision welcome Mainline.

Both games kick-off at midday, with City home to Toronto at Luveve Stadium while Vision play host to Plumtree’s Mainline at Gifford High School.

City top the table with 21 points, three ahead of Vision, who have played a game less than the former Premiership side. The municipal side has played nine games.

Try Ncube, the City coach, is wary of Toronto and wants his charges to make it three wins in a row.

Last weekend City beat Indlovu Iyanyathela 1-0 through a converted spot kick by Zephaniah Ngodzo in a highly- charged match.

“Every game we play is like a final and we have to keep pushing extra hard because all opponents are tricky. All the teams want to beat us, which means we’ve to be cautious and be tactically and technically disciplined. We respect our opponents, but we’ll be happy if we make it three wins in a row,” said Ncube.

Toronto were on a bye last weekend after beating log anchors Mosi Rovers 2-1 in their previous game.

The Pumula East-based side has declared itself ready for City.

“This is football and every time we go for battle we want to win. The boys are ready for the game. Hopefully, we will be able to get another positive result,” said Ghetto Nkala, the Toronto coach.

City will be hoping that Mainline from Plumtree stun Vision so they can enjoy a comfortable lead.

Mainline manager, Charlton Gumede said his team wants to end a five-match winless streak and get out of the relegation waters.

“It’s unfortunate that we keep playing well, but we haven’t been posting the desired results. The boys are working hard and are really eager to end this bad spell. Going through such trying times happens in football and what is important is to get up and turn the tide. This might be a game where we can get a positive result,” said Gumede.

Mainline are third from the bottom of the table and will have to be at their best to shock Vision, who head into the fixture coming from a 1-1 away draw against Moto Moto in Hwange. Mainline were beaten 1-0 at home by ZPC Hwange last weekend.

Southern Region Division 1 fixtures

Today: Talen Vision v Mainline (Gifford, 12 PM), Bulawayo City v Toronto (Luveve, 12PM)

Tomorrow: Mosi Rovers v Moto Moto (Chinotimba, 3PM), CIWU v Indlovu Iyanyathela (Crescent, 12PM), Makomo v Bosso 90 (Mpumalanga, 12PM), Arenel Movers v Binga Pirates (Crescent, 3PM), ZPC Hwange v Ajax Hotspurs (Ingagula, 12PM)

Table 

  P W D L F A GD Pts

Bulawayo City 9 6 3 0 24 3 21 21

Talen Vision 8 5 3 0 10 3 7 18

CIWU 9 5 1 3 11 7 4 16

Bosso 90 9 4 3 2 15 12 3 15

Makomo 9 3 4 2 11 7 4 13

ZPC Hwange 8 4 1 3 10 7 3 13

Indlovu Iyanyathela 9 3 4 2 5 2 3 13

Binga Pirates 8 4 1 3 9 8 1 13

Ajax Hotspurs 8 3 2 3 12 14 -2 11

Casmyn 9 2 3 4 7 10 -3 9

Moto Moto 8 2 3 3 7 13 -6 9

Toronto 8 2 1 5 8 20 -1 2 7

Mainline FC 8 1 3 4 9 10 -1 6

Arenel Movers 8 0 4 4 6 17 -11 4

Mosi Rovers 8 0 2 6 4 16 -12 2

— @ZililoR