ON THE BALL: D-day for Castle Lager Premiership race

23 Nov, 2014 - 05:11 0 Views
ON THE BALL: D-day for Castle Lager Premiership race Charles Mabika

The Sunday Mail

TODAY is D-day as the curtain comes down on the Castle Lager Premiership race. And, boy, what a race it has been!

I don’t think that Delta Beverages, who started it all way back in 1960, when they went into an admirable partnership with the country’s top flight league – then a duel between pre-independence Northern and Southern Rhodesian clubs – would have ever dreamt that for four seasons in a row (2011-14) their sponsored league would be decided on the very last day!

It has never happened before. In fact, there were only five inter-spaced occasions when the champions were decided on the very last day since 1966 when Castle Lager continued sponsoring a top-flight league championship, then involving only Zimbabwean teams.

That was firstly in 1967 when Tornados edged Dynamos by 1 point to clinch the crown. Five years later, Salisbury Sables edged Arcadia United by two points to win it. Then in 1979,a swashbuckling Caps United side, coached by the late Ashton “Papa” Nyazika, was pushed all the way to the wire by Arcadia United,who were under the tutelage of Mick Poole, to win The Green Machine’s first league title. In 1983 the late John Rugg-coached Rio Tinto’s workmanlike outfit lost out on goal difference to a devastating Dynamos side that was then under mentor Trevor Carelse. The last time was in 2005 when Caps United again snatched a dramatic crown over Masvingo United on the last day.

In 2010, Joey “Mafero” Antipas guided The Mighty Bulls to a famous last-gasp triumph over Elvis “Chuchu” Chiweshe’s Glamour Boys.

For the next three seasons, Kallisto “Manabhunu” Pasuwa broke the hearts of Rahman “Dr Rush” Gumbo (FC Platinum) in 2011 and Kelvin “KK” Kaindu (Highlanders) in 2012 and 2013 on the very last day, again on goal difference.

And this time around, Pasuwa will be hoping that he will repeat the feat – with a little help from Caps United – and, of course, coupled with his own troops’ vintage performance against Luke “Vahombe” Masomere’s How Mine at the National Sports Stadium.

That obviously depends on Saul “Madzibaba” Chaminuka’s ZPC Kariba crumbling against “Makepekepe” at Gwanzura.

It all reads like a Hollywood suspense script from any of the three-part, blood-curdling scenes of the famous “The Godfather” Mafia trilogy releases, doesn’t it?

At the other end of the dog fight, the suspense will be equally hair-raising as any two of the following sides – Chapungu, Triangle, Buffaloes, Harare City, Shabanie Mine and Black Rhinos – will take the plunge and join already relegated Bantu Rovers and Chiredzi.

It’s so sad, isn’t it, that the Zifa Assembly stuck to their guns about relegating four – instead of two clubs – from the top flight? I still argue that only two teams should have been chopped whilst increasing the number of Premiership teams from 16-18 to accommodate the four top winners from the Division One regions.

It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world where they relegate 25 percent of the premier clubs’ composition.

Let’s hope that the Zifa councillors will act more rationally when this matter comes up for further discussion – and it should for football’s fair play and longevity. It’s really burning inside me to have to watch two more sides going down this season. All the same, I’d like to wish the six aforementioned strugglers all the best as they fight tooth and nail to remain in the prestigious Castle Lager Premiership family.

* * *

THE Super Eagles of Nigeria will not be part of next year’s Afcon showpiece in Equatorial Guinea.

The nation that was, between 1994 and 2000, the continent’s number one side and even climbed to a stunning number five in the world, has been struggling for the last couple of years to reach those dizzy heights again.

Nigeria could only draw with South Africa (2-2) in their last qualifier last Wednesday, in a match they needed to win as their nearest rivals in the same group, Congo, eventually edged Sudan 1-0 to pip coach Stephen Keshi and his troops out of the continent’s top tournament’s finals next year.

What has gone wrong, a lot of observers are asking?

For me, I think it’s simply a case of Nigeria now feeling the loss of that golden era’s skilful exponents when the whole world was mesmerised by the graceful talents of the likes of Keshi himself, Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, Nwanko Kanu, George Finidi, Victor Ikpeba, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amunike, Celestine Babayaro, Tijani Babangida, Rashidi Yekini (late) and Taribo West, to name just a few.

It’s a phase that happens in football everywhere and Spain will be the first to tell you that.

So the Nigerians just have to accept that and continue with their development programmes and discover new talent.

I think we are in the same boat and would like to urge Zifa to keep this current and impressive Under-23 side together because we do seem to have some cracking talent in the likes of McCaulay Bonne, David Moyo, Munyaradzi Mbanje, Donovan Bernard, Ronald Pfumbidzai and Teenage Hadebe.

Till next week, remember to take care of your loved ones and each other. It’s bye for now.

 

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