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Mukudzei Chingwere, Harare Bureau

PANIC seems to be taking over the FC Platinum camp after their coach Norman Mapeza was subjected to insults by a rowdy section of the club’s supporters.

This followed the defeat to Dynamos at Mandava on Saturday.

The defending champions succumbed to an unexpected home defeat at the hands of DeMbare after prolonged years of success against the same opponents.

The club’s leaders blamed some gamblers for the chaos.

“I do not think any normal FC Platinum supporter should be worried, it is still very early in the season and we are well on track to defend the title,’’ said Evans Mtombeni. 

“I was told that those supporters were not happy that they have lost their bets. Remember these supporters are now betting on these games. 

“It is not an issue that the coach has done anything wrong because we actually dominated that game and it is part of football that you win some and lose some.

“I think next time we just need to restrict access to where our players, coaches and officials are for safety reasons.   

“We have actually started better than what we did the years we have won the championship and we are all happy with the way we are playing.’’

The miners are just two points behind joint leaders Chicken Inn and Caps United after 10 rounds of matches.

Saturday:
-FC Platinum 0-1 Dynamos

-Bulawayo Chiefs 2-3 Ngezi Platinum Stars

-Black Rhinos 2-1 Herentals

-Manica Diamonds 3-0 Yadah, Harare City 3-0 Hwange

Sunday:
-Triangle United 2-1 Mushowani Stars

-Highlanders 2-0 ZPC Kariba

-Chapungu 1-1 TelOne

-Caps United 1-3 Chicken Inn

           Table

                       P W D L F A GD PTS

Chicken Inn 10 7 1 2 18 5 13 22

Caps United 10 7 1 2 19 9 10 22

FC Platinum 10 6 2 2 12 5 7 20

Chapungu 10 5 3 2 14 9 5 18

Black Rhinos 10 5 3 2 12 10 2 18

ZPC Kariba 10 5 1 4 8 10 -2 16

Manica Diamonds 10 4 3 3 12 10 2 15

Ngezi Platinum 10 4 3 3 10 9 1 15

Dynamos 10 4 2 4 7 8 -1 14

Harare City 10 4 1 5 12 12 0 13

Hwange 10 4 1 5 8 13 -5 13

TelOne 10 2 5 3 5 6 -1 11

Triangle United 10 3 2 5 12 14 -2 11

Highlanders 10 2 5 3 5 8 -3 11

Herentals 10 1 6 3 4 6 -2 9

Mushowani 10 2 2 6 11 15 -4 8

Yadah 10 1 3 6 6 15 -9 6

Bulawayo Chiefs 10 1 2 7 8 19 -11 5

— @ZililoR