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Bruce Chikuni

CHICKEN INN are providing the menu for Ngezi Platinum this afternoon in a fixture that will present their respective goalkeepers a make or break moment at Luveve.

The two sides are already big outsiders for this season’s Castle Lager Premiership championship race with three games to play before the end of the campaign.

Ngezi Platinum are 16 points behind leaders, Simba Bhora, who only need a point today against Arenel Movers to claim the championship while the Gamecocks are not even in the top eight picture sitting ninth on the league table.

As fans might expect this clash to be, those who know the significance of Golden Glove will definitely keep their eyes on Chicken Inn’s Donovan Bernard and Nelson Chadya for the visitors.

Bernard is leading the Golden Glove race with 19 clean sheets despite missing four fixtures of the campaign. Chadya is breathing down on Bernard’s neck with 17 and Ngezi Platinum have a game in hand, which means they will be left with three games to play after today’s assignment.

Bernard was not in action last weekend when Chicken Inn suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of spirited Chegutu Pirates as he was nursing an injury, which he picked on national duty.

On the other hand, Chadya failed to narrow the gap as they were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Bikita Minerals. The bad thing for Bernard is, his hopes of adding to his tally will depend on the club’s medical team who will have to approve his availability for selection.

And, the good thing is that he has been training with the whole squad ahead of this clash. The team’s boss, Joey Antipas, has insisted Bernard is the best goalie in the country citing his number of clean sheets as proof to his assertion.

Antipas’ troops are battling to secure a top-five finish, but Bernard has somehow forced his name in the Golden Glove conversation.

Moreover, Chicken Inn have less goals, 22, than any top 10 team on the league table. And, in a way, this makes Antipas argument believable.

“I will keep saying Bernard is the best goalkeeper in the country by a huge difference. He has been our best player at this club for a long time and his consistency has been amazing.

“I don’t know what could have been our situation had it not been his goalkeeping skills, which helped us to manage goalless draws in some fixtures.

“He is one player whom I feel deserves to go to foreign leagues, but I guess he has to wait for his time, because he is one player every coach wishes to have,” said Antipas.

Should Bernard hold on to his lead in the Golden Glove race, it will be his first time to get this gong home. And, it will also be a moment to celebrate in the City of Kings, which is also on course to get the Golden Boot race. Lynoth Chikuhwa of Highlanders has netted 15 times and he is enjoying a three-goal cushion.

Fortunately, the Golden Boot race is automatically given to the player who finishes the season with most goals, something, which will not give Chikuhwa any sleepless nights should he keep his eyes on the ball.

But, since the same rule does not apply to the goalie who ends the campaign with most clean sheets, it means Bernard will have to wait for journalists, coaches and club captains to agree if he should win the award.

But those who cast their votes in this process appear to be stuck with international standards where the award is naturally given to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets.

That was the case two seasons ago when FC Platinum won their fourth title. Wallace Magalane played a key role for Norman Mapeza’s charges but the Golden Glove was won by Nelson Chadya who had recorded most clean sheets that season.

Last campaign, the Golden Glove was won by Highlanders’ Ariel Sibanda who ended the campaign with most shootouts despite Chadya playing a key role in helping Ngezi Platinum register their maiden championship.

If this pattern continues this season, it means whoever finishes with most clean sheets at the end of the season is more likely to get the nod from journalists, coaches and teams captains.