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Glamour Boys will turn their season around and be a factor in the race for the Premiership title.
DeMbare suffered a major setback on Sunday when they slumped to a 0-1 defeat at Barbourfields against Zimbabwe Saints – their third Castle Lager Premiership defeat in eight games.

It’s the second worst start to a Premiership race by the Glamour Boys since the turn of the millennium but Mutasa, hailed during the pre-season as the Messiah who would lead his club to greatness, has come under severe pressure of late.

On Sunday, a section of Dynamos fans booed his decision to pull out lanky striker Roderick Mutuma, still with two goals to his credit this campaign, for Patrick Khumbula.
It was the second time that some DeMbare fans have turned against Mutasa, after a similar incident at Rufaro following a goalless draw against Hwange on Good Friday, but the coach appears to still command the confidence of the majority of supporters.

And yesterday Mutasa said he was still confident his Glamour Boys will fire on all cylinders this season and their destiny was still very much in their hands.
DeMbare – who appeared to have found answers to their early season woes in front of goal with two victories in succession over Masvingo United and Monomotapa in their recent matches – were left in deep soul-searching after crashing to a 0-1 loss to Saints.

Former Highlanders forward Abraham Mbaiwa converted from the spot to break DeMbare hearts.
The Glamour Boys dropped one place to eighth on the table while Saints are now level on 11 points with Dynamos after gaining one place into ninth position.

But Mutasa yesterday said it was too early to pass judgment on DeMbare’s campaign at this stage despite trailing pace-setters Motor Action by six points.
“I wouldn’t want to read too much into the log table because from the look of things we are still very much in it,” said Mutasa.

“We are only six points away from the leaders and we haven’t even reached the 10-game mark as yet.
“We are not very far off and there is everything to play for at this stage. I believe it doesn’t always mean that the team that goes on to win the championship should lead from the start.

“I have hope and confidence that our game will rise. We need to collect maximum points especially at home and we are working on our shortcomings.”
DeMbare’s Achilles Heel has been their failure in front of goal with the side having scored eight goals, in as many matches this season, with five of the goals coming in one match against Masvingo United.

Mutasa, once again, felt the side were let down by their shortcomings upfront in Bulawayo on Sunday.
“We failed to convert the chances that came our way and then we conceded an unfortunate penalty that Saints eventually put away,” said Mutasa.

“I think we are not scoring enough goals because if you look at most our games we haven’t been getting much in terms of goals.
“This was made worse by the absence of some of our key players like Denver (Mukamba) and Archieford (Gutu) who are away on trials, Murape (Murape) and Desmond (Maringwa) who are still to gain full fitness.

“It’s always difficult to lose such a big number of players at once. But most of the guys played well and I have confidence that they will raise their game.”
Defending champions Motor Action were the biggest beneficiaries of the weekend results as most their rivals stumbled along the road with Dynamos and Highlanders losing their matches while CAPS United and FC Platinum settled for a share of spoils.

Things are looking good for Joey Antipas’ Motor Action, who still sit at the summit after getting an away point in a top-of-the-table clash that ended goalless against Chicken Inn at Luveve on Saturday.
The Mighty Bulls and Chicken Inn are only separated by a slim goal difference at the top as they lead the pack with 17 points apiece after eight rounds of play.

Motor Action owe much of their success this far to their strong defensive act as they kept a clean sheet for the fourth match on the trot.
They have only conceded once this season against the 10 goals they scored in eight games.

But the Premiership title looks a tight race this year with Highlanders, CAPS United, Chicken Inn and Motor Action taking turns to sit at the top in the last seven weeks.
Ambitious Premiership newboys FC Platinum ensured they maintained a manageable distance between them and the leading pack with a 2-2 draw against CAPS United at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.

Former Dynamos midfielder Benjamin Marere, who has scored in all of the club’s last three matches, continued his fine form after netting the opener and the club’s regular scorer Charles Sibanda weighed in with the second.

FC Platinum are only one point behind Motor Action and Chicken Inn but they have a game in hand which could catapult them to the summit for the first time if they win against Gunners tomorrow at Maglas.
Misheck Chidzambwa’s Blue Ribbon were the only team in the top eight that collected maximum points following the 2-1 win over Highlanders for their fourth win of the season.

The victory over Bosso, courtesy of goals from Crispen Dickson and Felix Kuswatuka, lifted them two places up the ladder into sixth place with 13 points in the bag.
But the Bulawayo giants will always feel hard done by after the referee somehow disallowed what looked a good effort by Njabulo Ncube.

Blue Ribbon recovered from a poor run of three consecutive defeats in their previous against Zimbabwe Saints, Motor Action and FC Platinum, which they lost by identical 1-0 scorelines.
Chidzambwa blamed poor finishing for the bad patch that nearly dented a promising start of four games unbeaten earlier in the season.
“It’s not that we haven’t been playing well in those games. Our only problem was that we were not scoring goals and we talked about it with the players and they responded positively. Winning against Highlanders was a real morale-booster and we hope to continue from there,” said Chidzambwa.

Highlanders remained in fifth place with 14 points despite the defeat.
Fixtures:
Wednesday
FC Platinum v Gunners (Maglas)
Saturday
FC Platinum v Chicken Inn (Maglas Stadium), Kiglon v Black Mambas (Gwanzura), Monomotapa v Shabanie Mine (Rufaro), Motor Action v Zimbabwe Saints (Motor Action Sports Club)
Sunday
Hwange v Blue Ribbon (Colliery), Highlanders v CAPS United (Barbourfields), Masvingo United v Shooting Stars (Mucheke), Dynamos v Gunners (Rufaro)
Wednesday May 25
Zimbabwe Saints v Gunners (Luveve), Shabanie Mine v Dynamos (Maglas), Shooting Stars v Monomotapa (Gwanzura), Black Mambas v Masvingo United (Morris Depot), Blue Ribbon v Kiglon (Rufaro), CAPS United v Hwange (NSS), Chicken Inn v Highlanders (Barbourfields), Motor Action v FC Platinum (Motor Action Sports Club)
WEEK 11
Saturday, May 28
FC Platinum v Zimbabwe Saints (Maglas), Kiglon v Caps United (Gwanzura), Monomotapa v Black Mambas (Rufaro), Gunners v Shabanie Mine (Lafarge)
Sunday, May 29
Highlanders v Motor Action (Barbourfields), Hwange v Chicken Inn (Colliery), Masvingo v Blue Ribbon (Mucheke), Dynamos v Shooting Stars (Rufaro).