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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

FC PLATINUM coach Norman Mapeza says winning the Castle Challenge Cup could help set the tone for his side in their quest to defend the Castle Lager Premiership title.

The platinum miners are scheduled to get the ball rolling for the 2023 season when they host Bulawayo Chiefs in the Castle Challenge Cup at Mandava this Saturday.

The season-opening contest, which features the league champions and the Chibuku Super Cup winners from the previous season, will pave the way for the new campaign which gets in full swing in two weeks.

FC Platinum have dominated the Castle Challenge Cup after winning all the editions since the tournament was first played in 2017.

They have three Castle Challenge Cup titles to their name and Mapeza does not mind adding a new record fourth, to equal the number of league titles they have won in the last four seasons.

“It’s a very important game for us,” he told The Herald yesterday.

“We have been winning this trophy for the past seasons. So it’s a very important game for us as a club.

“I think it will be a very good motivation for the boys if we manage to win the cup. I think it will give us a good insight of what to expect during the course of the season. So it’s a very important game for us as a club,” said Mapeza.

The Zvishavane side lifted the inaugural edition of the Castle Challenge Cup when they beat Harare City 2-1 at Mandava in December 2017. They defended it in 2018 with a 2-0 win over Triangle United, again at Mandava.

The Castle Challenge Cup was not held in 2019 after the PSL resolved to shift the contest, which from the onset had served as the last gig of the marathon, to a season-opening event.

FC Platinum faced Highlanders in the 2020 edition and emerged 2-0 winners in an ill-tempered encounter at Barbourfields.

They again face a different opponent in defence of the silverware.

Chiefs earned the ticket against the four-time Premiership champions after beating Herentals 1-0 in the final of the Chibuku Super Cup last year.

FC Platinum rounded off their pre-season preparations in Masvingo at the weekend where they played two games against second-tier side Masvingo United and won both. Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya and new boy Jarrison Selemani scored in the 2-1 victory while Juan Mutudza and Perfect Chikwende were also on target in the second game which they won 2-0.

According to Mapeza, it was not the result that was so important. The games were key for the platinum miners to assess their team as well as their style of play and combinations ahead of the new season.

“We just wanted to check how far we have gone in terms of our preparations, fitness levels of the guys, and assess the technical and tactical aspects of the game.

“So I was more than happy. I think the guys performed well. It’s still work in progress, though, and we can’t really say much. It was a friendly game at the end of the day but I was happy with the performance, everything went well for us,” he reasoned.

Mapeza’s men, who have won the last four league titles on the trot, are among the favourites in what promises to be a highly competitive campaign.

The Zvishavane side have maintained the core of the team that won the title last season with four games to spare. They added only three new players to beef up their stocks.

The platinum miners signed former Dynamos and Cranborne Bullets winger Jarrison Selemani, ex-Triangle United fullback Misheck Ngwenya and Chikwende, who is returning to Zvishavane after two years.

Mapeza believes the platinum miners are ready for the 2023 season, which begins with an away trip to newboys Simba Bhora. They also play Cranborne Bullets (H), Highlanders (A), Bulawayo Chiefs (H) and CAPS United (A) in that order in the first five games.

“We are ready for the season. I think like anybody else, we are ready. It wasn’t easy during the pre-season. You know how it is with pre-season, it’s all about hard work, team bonding, working on combinations and so far so good,” said Mapeza