HARARE City — with their newly- found status of being pacesetters — are aiming consolidate their position at the top of the table when they engage Monomotapa in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Rufaro this afternoon. The Sunshine Boys fired warning shots early in the season when they recruited 13 players and had been calmly stalking their rivals until they reached the summit of the log after last weekend’s round of matches. Despite taking the commanding position, Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi said they will remain focused because the league championship race still has a long way to go. “We are taking the game just like any other games we have played before. So this means we will play our normal type of football. “The good thing about our camp is that we have managed to remain level-headed, despite being at the top of the log. “In fact, we are not even talking about the position because the league race is still on,” said Mawiwi. There was good news filtering from the Harare City camp when veteran defender David Kutyauripo resumed training after having been sidelined for nearly two months. “Kutyauripo had a plaster removed and he has resumed some light training,” said Mawiwi. The former Dynamos and CAPS United defender is out of the team today. Harare City will also miss the influential midfielder Silas Songani and goalkeeper Maxwell Mupangendengu who are in Zambia with the Warriors for the Cosafa Castle Cup. “Missing the two players will affect us but we have to adjust. In the past we had done well in their absence and this is a chance for some players to shine,” said Mawiwi. In their last meeting, Monomotapa took the lead through Agrippa Murimba before Harare City rallied from being through goals by the impressive Phineas Bamusi, Osborne Mukuradare and James Jam to win 3-1. Harare City, Mawiwi said, are not underrating Monoz who also play a similar type of passing football. “I am not very good at predicting results but we are aiming for a positive result. I know that it’s going to be a tough a match because Monomotapa are very good side. “We respect them but we do not fear them at all,” said Mawiwi. Monomotapa coach Biggie Zuze said they are taking a rather cautious approach to the match despite having won their last three matches against struggling Motor Action. “We have been playing well against Motor Action but the challenge for my players is to focus on other teams. “I was telling them that there are 14 other teams besides Motor Action and we have to play well against them as well,” said Zuze. Zuze said he has worked on the shortcomings exposed in their first meeting when they surrendered the lead. “I think we have managed to work on the mistakes from the reverse fixture. Generally we lacked concentration and conceded three goals within a space of 12 minutes,” said Zuze. Zuze is pleased with the progress made by his side in the last games in which they have also reached the semi-finals of the BancABC Sup8r Trophy. “I have been telling people that our team needs time to gel and I think it’s coming out well. However, we are not likely to go to the market during the mid- season transfer because of lack of financial resources,” he said. The former Dynamos midfielder said he would have wanted two experienced players to add depth to his squad during the second half. “At the moment we are not getting new players because we have no resources but we should be getting two or three youngsters from the juniors but we also need players with experience. “For now we have to work with the resources at our disposal and this also a chance for the available talent to prove,” he said. Monomotapa were yesterday still fretting over the fitness of Obey Mwerahari who has an ankle injury while diminutive midfielder Ronald Chitiyo is away in Zambia with the national team. “At this time of the season, players are prone to injuries but we hope it should be nothing more than serious knocks,” Zuze said. In another PSL match today, Tripple B host an equally struggling Black Rhinos at Dulibadzimu while morale is at its lowest in the Mighty Bulls camp when they travel to Mandava for a date against FC Platinum. FC Platinum were stunned by Black Rhinos are Rimuka last Sunday and they badly need a victory at home. Fixtures Today Tripple B v Black Rhinos (Dulibadzimu), FC Platinum v Motor Action (Mandava), Monomotapa v Harare City(rufar) **kanyez**
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 08:22:58 +0000
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