EDITOR – NO team scored more
than a goal during Zimbabwe’s Premier
Soccer League (PSL) this past
week.
Yet the hiatus in any football match
comes when goals are scored in their
abundance.
The match between Dynamos and
Ngezi Platinum on Sunday started at a
blistering pace, but the energy waned
before halftime.
Only newcomers to the PSL would
expect a lot of goals but the seasoned
fans are now used to low-key scoring
games. They go to watch a Dynamos
that is now full of defending rather
than launching attacks.
Not only Dynamos, but every team
is in its own nightmarish goal drought.
Even FC Platinum gaffer Norman
Mapeza and Chicken Inn coach Joey
Antipas, early this year, in the media,
expressed worry over their strikers’
conversion rates.
The current league top scorer William
Manondo of CAPS United is on
15 goals after 28 matches.
Brian Muza of Chicken Inn tails
with 11 goals with Lynoth Chikuhwa of
Highlanders on 10 goals.
Dynamos’ top scorer Ghanaian Emmanuel
Paga is on nine goals.
Where are the strikers?
In Nothern Region Division, the
song is different; there is a lot of goal
scoring and record breaking.
Tinashe ‘Maswera’ Balakasi of Simba
Bhora is on cloud nine.
He broke an eight-year jinx after
pumping five goals in Simba Bhora’s
6-3 win over Chinhoyi Stars at Wadzanai
Stadium that took his goal tally to
25 in 25 matches.
The gold mining town of Shamva
is glittering after they secured a place
in PSL and dedicated the promotion
to the late energetic star, Barnabas
Mushunje. Mushunje, who was a key
player for Simba Bhora, died in a car
accident on Shamva Road in June.
This is the first time a team from
Shamva has qualified for the PSL.
Simba Bhora and Balakasi will have
to prove their mettle in the PSL.
But for now, we need real strikers in
the PSL.
As fans, we go to soccer matches for
the goals and strikers are letting us
down.
Chaks, Glenview, Harare