The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
IT was probably one of the longest seasons since 1993, which is the year the Premier Soccer League was founded.
The 2021/2022 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League lasted exactly 373 days, as it ran from November 5, 2021 to November 13, 2022. It was a gruelling competition that kicked off at the National Sports Stadium, where the first goal of the season was scored.
Interestingly, the last goal of the season was scored at the same venue.
Tino Benza made history when he scored the first Premier Soccer League goal in the post-Covid-19 era, when Herentals edged Harare City 1-0 in the opening fixture of the season. Dynamos’ Ghanaian import, Emmanuel Paga, scored the last goal of the season, heading home an 84th-minute goal in the 1-1 draw against CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday.
A total of 594 goals were scored during the season, nine better than the 2019 campaign, which was the last season before Covid-19 indefinitely halted all sporting activities across the globe.
Premiership action, however, returned in November 2021, after almost two years of inactivity, with an exciting opening weekend that saw Nyasha Chintuli score four goals in Ngezi Platinum Stars’ 5-0 thumping of Bulawayo City at Baobab Stadium.
Chintuli, who later moved to Manica Diamonds, and Delic Murimba of Ngezi were the only two players to score four goals each in one match.
Murimba achieved that feat when Ngezi walloped relegated WhaWha 5-0 at Baobab last weekend.
Match days 3, 9 and 26 had the most number of goals — 25, while match day 17, which was coincidentally the last round of the first half of the season, recorded the least number of goals — 11.
Six 1-0 scorelines and two goalless draws were registered during that weekend, while Dynamos thrashed CAPS United 3-0.
The biggest scoreline of the season was recorded in week 5, when Manica Diamonds walloped CAPS United 6-2 at Sakubva Stadium.
It was United’s worst defeat in the league since independence.
Ironically, it was Makepekepe who posted the season’s biggest victory, a 6-0 thumping of WhaWha at the National Sports Stadium on June 3. CAPS United also endured their longest losing streak since 2012, when they went on a barren spell between April 24 and June 26. They lost seven consecutive league games to equal an infamous record they set between July and August 2012.
Black Rhinos were the leagues’ draw specialists during the campaign, mustering 16.
Had they converted those into wins, the soldiers would have finished the season with 78 points and claimed the championship title.
Relegated WhaWha had the worst defence, conceding 63 goals in 34 matches, at a rate of 1.85 goals per game.
In contrast, FC Platinum had the best defence, shipping in 14 out of 34 games, at a rate of 0.4 goals per game.
The champions goalkeeper, Wallace Magalane, captured the nation’s imagination when he went for 10 games, or 900 minutes, without conceding between May 7 and July 30. It was a magnificent streak for Magalane, who clocked a 15-hour shift without picking the ball from the net.
FC Platinum recorded 23 clean sheets in their 34 matches.
So mean were the miners, especially at home, that they were only breached four times in 17 games at their Mandava fortress.
Only Tenax, Chicken Inn, Ngezi Platinum Stars and Black Rhinos managed to score at Mandava. Farai Mugumwa (Tenax), Brian Muza (Chicken Inn), Macdonald Makuwe (Ngezi Platinum Stars) and Eli Ilunga (Black Rhinos) were the only players in the league to score against FC Platinum at Mandava.
The champions secured their fourth straight title on the back of just three defeats in the season. They only lost to Bulawayo Chiefs at Luveve, Ngezi Platinum Stars (Mandava) and away to Herentals at the National Sports Stadium. After their 0-1 defeat by Herentals on April 30, FC Platinum never lost for the remainder of the season.
Norman Mapeza’s men went on a 21-match unbeaten run, which they capped with a fine 3-0 win against Cranborne Bullets in their last match of the season.
It was also a season that saw a number of coaching casualties.
July was dubbed the “month of madness’’, as three coaches — Benjani Mwaruwari (Ngezi Platinum Stars), Herbert Maruwa (Black Rhinos) and Shadreck Mugurasave (Tenax) — lost their jobs.
The first coach to lose his job was Rodwell Dhlakama, who was first placed on “an indefinite leave” at Ngezi Platinum Stars on February 3, before he eventually resigned on February 28.
ZPC Kariba’s Godfrey Tamirepi was the second coach to go when he was fired on May 3. A fortnight later, Highlanders sent Mandla “Lulu” Mpofu packing and replaced him with Brazilian Brito.
Mwaruwari, who replaced Dhlakama at Ngezi, was also sacked in July before Takesure Chiragwi took charge until the end of the season.
Ngezi Platinum Stars and ZPC Kariba effectively had three coaches during the season. After replacing Tamirepi, the nomadic Dhlakama quit to join South African Division One outfit Black Leopards, leaving Darlington Dodo to finish the campaign with ZPC Kariba. Johanisi Nhumwa was another coaching casualty, when he was fired by Manica Diamonds on October 3 and was replaced by Jairos Tapera, who had left Triangle.
Thomas Ruzive is now in charge at Triangle. This meant seven coaches lost their jobs in the 18-team Premiership.
Twitter@LangtonGuraz
