BY FORTUNE MBELE
Caps United and FC Platinum are headed for a grand finale of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season after the two sides pulled away from third-placed contenders Chicken Inn with two matches to go before the end of the season.
The Green Machine are now five points ahead of Chicken Inn while FC Platinum remained two points behind Caps following their 1-0 win over Chapungu on Sunday.
Chicken Inn have two tough assignments against the relegation-threatened duo of Herentals and TelOne.
Caps still have to play Ngezi Platinum Stars away before the final day clash with FC Platinum which will be the title decider.
Darlington Dodo’s side can afford to lose against Ngezi in the penultimate match of the season and will still have everything in their hands when they meet FC Platinum.
FC Platinum cannot afford to see the gap between them and Caps increase before the two teams clash, in what will be a historic final day clash at the National Sports Stadium.
The Zvishavane-based side has never beaten Caps in Harare and out of their 10 meetings, FC Platinum won once while six of them ended in draws.
Over the years, title tussles have gone all the way to the last day of the season, but a scenario where two teams with an equal chance of winning the championship clashing on the final day has not been witnessed.
It will be a befitting end to what has been a topsy turvy and exciting title fight.
Caps took a step towards winning their sixth title after the Sunday derby against Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium.
Newman Sianchali scored through a header in the first half to set up the win for his side.
Chicken Inn’s hopes of winning a second Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title were dashed on Saturday following their 3-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Bulawayo Chiefs.
After losing to Bulawayo Chiefs on Saturday, a visibly disappointed Joey Antipas said: “All we have to do is live in hope. If the results (of Caps and FC Platinum) go the other way, then we are done. There is God above; we just believe in that and live in hope.”
Interestingly, since their talisman Clive Augusto left in August, having played his last match against ZPC Kariba at Nyamhunga Stadium where he scored his 14th goal and still leads the PSL scorers’ chart, Chicken Inn players have scored a combined 17 goals in 15 matches, just three more than what the Maritzburg United striker had scored in 17 games of the first half of the season.
Innocent Mucheneka is the team’s top goal scorer with six goals while Brett Amidu has five.
