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Ray Bande in MUTARE

MUTARE-BASED Castle Lager Premiership football outfit Manica Diamonds boss Masimba Chihowa is convinced that the poor streak of results in the previous five rounds of league matches was just a rough patch and the Gem Boys will start picking up maximum points in Sunday’s clash against ZPC Kariba at Sakubva. In the previous 450 minutes of open play, the former Premiership log leaders have failed to collected maximum points, conceding five times, an average of a goal conceded in every match played and were on target only four times, amassing a paltry four out of a possible 15 points.

The former FIFA panel assistant referee watched from the terraces as his team fell by a solitary goal against Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium last Sunday.

Last Sunday’s result meant that the Gem Boys, as Manica Diamonds are fondly referred to by their growing fan base in the eastern border city and the province of Manicaland at large, are yet to win a match in the previous five rounds of league matches.

Manica Diamonds settled for a 1-1 draw against Cranborne Bullets before playing a goalless stalemate against FC Platinum at Sakubva.

The Gem Boys then picked another single point from another goalless stalemate against FC Platinum at Sakubva before the 3-3 draw against Chicken at Luveve in Bulawayo.

It was a case of two points dropped than a point gained for the Gem Boys in another disappointing goalless draw against Bulawayo Chiefs at Sakubva.

Last Sunday’s away defeat by a solitary goal against Dynamos placed their free fall into context.

It would be easy for neutrals to feel for the Mutare side given that inside those five rounds of league matches that the team has not won a single encounter, the Gem Boys faced three of the domestic top-flight big teams in defending champions FC Platinum, championship chasing Chicken Inn and the country’s biggest football club, Dynamos.