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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League high-fliers Chicken Inn and Hwange face a real test over the Easter holidays programme.

The two sides are the only ones with a 100 percent record in the three-week old league campaign.

Chicken Inn top the table with nine points from three games and take their act to ambitious Ngezi Platinum Stars on Good Friday where they will be hoping to pile more misery on Erol Akbay’s side. Ngezi suffered a shock 1-2 loss to Hwange in their previous game at the Colliery Stadium on Sunday.

Chicken Inn have scored seven goals in their three games and their back line has also been impressive, keeping clean sheets in their last two games, which they won by identical 2-0 scorelines against Yadah and Dynamos.

Their trip to Ngezi will mark an emotional return to Baobab Stadium for the trio of goalkeeper Donovan Bernard, defensive midfielder Tichaona Chipunza and striker Clive Augusto, who dumped the platinum miners at the beginning of the year to establish themselves as vital cogs at the Gamecocks.

Augusto is currently leading the league’s scoring charts with four goals from three games, while Bernard has only conceded once in their 3-1 win over ZPC Kariba on the opening day of the season.

It is the impressive start and quick settling of the Gamecocks that has sent shivers down opponents’ spines and their pedigree will be truly tested in Mhondoro on Friday.

History, however, favours Ngezi, as Chicken Inn have never won against the Mhondoro-based side since its promotion into the PSL in 2016.

The Gamecocks have lost two out of the three games played in Ngezi, a jinx that they will want to break in their title charge.

For Ngezi, Akbay should be feeling the heat as his bosses declared that they want the championship and having lost two out of three games, the Dutchman will be hard-pressed for victory to keep up with the leading pack.

Another Easter top-drawer clash is the FC Platinum and Hwange encounter at Mandava Stadium on Saturday. Hwange’s early flames will be under scrutiny against the defending champions, who survived a Mushowani Stars’ scare to secure a 2-2 draw in Harare on Monday.

Hwange won their opening three games by claiming the scalps of Yadah, fading giants Dynamos and Ngezi. Chipangano are second on the league table due to an inferior goal difference, while FC Platinum are third.

The coalminers are bullish, with coach Nation Dube saying their opponents can underestimate them at their own peril.

Table 

  P W D L F A GD Pts

Chicken Inn 3 3 0 0 7 1 6 9

Hwange 3 3 0 0 6 2 4 9

FC Platinum 3 2 1 0 6 3 3 7

ZPC Kariba 3 2 0 1 3 3 0 6

Chapungu 2 1 1 0 7 2 5 4

Caps United 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 4

Manica 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4

Triangle United 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4

TelOne 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4

Dynamos 3 1 0 2 3 4 -1 3

Ngezi Platinum 3 1 0 2 4 5 -1 3

Harare City 3 1 0 2 4 6 -2 3

Black Rhinos 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 2

Herentals 3 0 2 1 2 3 -1 2

Highlanders 3 0 2 1 2 4 -2 2

Mushowani 3 0 1 2 3 6 -3 1

Yadah 3 0 1 2 2 6 -4 1

Bulawayo Chiefs 2 0 0 2 0 6 -6 0

Match Day Four fixtures

Friday, April 19:

-Yadah v TelOne (Rufaro)

-Bulawayo Chiefs v ZPC Kariba (Luveve)

– Ngezi Platinum Stars v Chicken Inn (Baobab)

Saturday, April 20:

-Black Rhinos v Caps United (Rufaro)

-FC Platinum v Hwange (Mandava)

Sunday, 21 April:

-Chapungu v Harare City (Mandava)

Monday, April 22:

-Dynamos v Herentals (Rufaro)

-Manica Diamonds v Mushowani Stars (Gibbo)

-Highlanders v Triangle United (Barbourfields)