PSL teams raise the bar Joey Antipas
Joey Antipas

Joey Antipas

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
TEAMS have raised the bar in the second stage of the Castle Lager Premiership, with some sides fighting for survival while others want to achieve a respectable finish in the title race.

Chapungu beat Mutare City 3-1 on Saturday and moved three points clear of the relegation zone, taking their points’ tally to 19. The airmen are fifth from the bottom of the table.

Champions FC Platinum’s lead was cut down to four points after drawing 1-1 against Yadah in Harare.

FC Platinum lost 1-2 to ZPC Kariba before their trip to Yadah and lead the table with 45 points from 19 games, giving second-placed team Ngezi Platinum Stars a glimmer of hope in their title ambitions.

For FC Platinum, it was more of two lost points, while Yadah picked up a valuable point in their quest to survive relegation.

Ngezi recovered from a shock 1-0 away loss to Herentals to beat Triangle United 3-1 at Baobab Stadium, ending a four-match losing streak and in the process getting their championship hopes back on track.

Pressure was certainly mounting for Ngezi coach Tonderai Ndiraya and a fifth consecutive loss could have spelt doom for the gaffer, whose side had an impressive start to the season.

Third-placed Chicken Inn were the weekend’s biggest winners with a 4-0 thrashing of Nichrut.

The victory and lack of consistency among teams has given Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas reason to believe they can catch up with the pacesetters if they keep on winning.

The Gamecocks, who were champions in 2015, have picked up four points in their last two outings; first from the 1-1 draw with Dynamos before their emphatic win over Nichrut.

“What’s important is to keep pressing the button and try to be consistent performers. If we can continue playing this way, I think at the end we could get something. It’s difficult to play catch-up, especially in the second half of the season where teams are either fighting against relegation or gunning for the championship. At this stage, every game is tricky in the sense that we now know each other’s styles and whoever wants it more wins. There will be more shocking results,” said Antipas.

Highlanders moved two places up the table into fifth place following a scrappy 1-0 win over Herentals, taking their points’ tally to 32.

Bosso’s only major talking point was the 48th minute long-range goal by Adrian Silla.

Their performance, however, didn’t impress coach Madinda Ndlovu, who indicated that they were lucky to get a win.

Maybe the arrival of striker Tinashe Makanda, who is still waiting for a reverse international clearance from South African First Division side Stellenbosch, will give Ndlovu and his side some edge upfront.

At the tail end, Mutare City remained glued to the bottom of the table following a 3-1 loss to Chapungu, while second from the bottom Shabanie Mine blew their lead twice to draw 2-2 against fading giants Dynamos at Maglas Stadium.

Shabanie Mine are tied on 15 points with 16th-placed Bulawayo City who were held to a 1-1 draw by Harare City.

Nichrut complete the list of teams occupying the four relegation slots.

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