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Eddie Chikamhi and Augustine Hwata
STAR midfielder Ronald “Rooney” Chitiyo says former champions Monomotapa face the real danger of being demoted this year if they don’t raise their game in the last five assignments. Monomotapa, who won the league title in 2008 and finished fourth last season, have been going through a rough patch and are wallowing in the bottom four of the table.

The Harare side has been bitten hard by a combination of poor finances and a massive player exodus which has impacted heavily on the team’s performance.

“It’s not looking good for us at the moment. That is the reality, but we are not giving up the fight yet. We will continue fighting until the last match of the season.

“There is no reason for us to keep our heads down because lean spells happen in football and there are still five games to play, though,” said Chitiyo.

Monomotapa, who lost 4-0 to Premiership newboys Triangle last week, gave away an early first half advantage to settle for a draw with Shabanie Mine at Maglas on Sunday.

“We should have collected maximum points in our last game, but it’s always difficult playing away. Overall, I think we did well at Shabanie Mine.

“We scored first and somehow they managed to come back in the second half to level terms. We would need to keep faith in our abilities if we are to succeed,” said Chitiyo.

But it is even worse for 2010 champions Motor Action who remained at the bottom of the table following a 1-1 draw at Buffaloes.
The Mighty Bulls salvaged a point to take their tally to 18 after Ngoni Maviri cancelled out Steven Sibanda’s first half penalty conversion.
Tripple B and Black Rhinos, who complete the bottom four, had difficult assignments against championship-chasing teams.
Tripple B were hammered 0-4 by Dynamos at Rufaro and the Glamour Boys’ skipper, Murape Murape, believes the win was the spark they badly required to re-launch the defence of their title.

An early own goal by Tripple B skipper Oscar Chove before further efforts from Boban Zirintusa and Tawanda Muparati gave Dynamos a comfortable lead in the first half while Washington Pakamisa added a goal late in the second half.

Murape challenged the Dynamos fans and players to read from the same book if they entertain any hopes of winning the league.
“We are not going to surrender our championship just like that, we have to fight for it until the last game of the season. The win over Tripple B was very crucial because we now need maximum points in every game that we play.

“So it’s good to win before going to Bulawayo.
“Pressure will always be there for us at Dynamos. You can see that were leading 3-0 before half-time and that was good but the supporters were not behind us.

“They were booing and discouraging the players, which is not good for us. At times our supporters are a big let down because they demoralise the players.”

A section of the fans in the Vietnam Stand booed at Murape and Clive Kawinga for making mistakes although the team, at that stage, was never in danger of surrendering the advantage.

“We are at the crucial stage of the championship race and we do not need supporters who behave like that. Of course, we need their support but some of them come and demoralise the players.

“We are leading 3-0 and instead of helping us enjoy the lead, they put us under pressure. So the pressure at Dynamos is always there and we will have to live with it,” said Murape.

At least they could be less pressure for Murape and his troops in the away match.
“My message to the supporters is that it’s high time they grow up and come to the stadiums to cheer the team and not to demoralise   us.

“I do not think it’s good for them to just come and celebrate the goals only. They should come and encourage the team even if the chips are down and that’s the way we can put more effort,” said Murape.

Rhinos conceded for the first time since they moved to Rimuka in a 3-0 thrashing by log leaders Highlanders. Masimba Mambare scored a brace in that match while Njabulo Ncube weighed in with the other goal. Rhinos remained on 12th place with 27 points while Tripple B are 15th on 19 points.

Black Mambas and Hwange grabbed crucial wins which enabled them to create five-point cushions between them and the bottom               four.
Both teams moved to 32 points each as Mambas registered one of their big wins in a 4-1 win over CAPS United while Hwange beat Chicken Inn 2-1  away at Barbourfields.

Gishon Ntini’s Triangle climbed to the top half of the table courtesy of a 2-1 home win over FC Platinum which left them on seventh place with 35 points.