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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
BLACK Rhinos coach Stanford “Stix” Mtizwa has urged his charges to remain focused after stretching their lead in the Northern Region Division One soccer league to nine points when they beat Chegutu Pirates 3-0 over the weekend.

The former Premiership side got their goals from Vincent Mhandu, who scored a brace, and Milton Kureva to maintain their top spot.

It was a sweet victory for Black Rhinos as all the other four teams in the top five dropped points.

Second placed Gunners went down to Flame Lily 2-3 at Rufaro while third placed Karoi United and Herentals, who are sitting on fourth position had a goalless draw.

Golden Valley were held to a 2-2 draw by Cranborne Bullets at Rimuka.

Mtizwa said there is a lot of work that needs to be done to maintain their pole position.

“We still want to maintain our position, even to stretch our lead. We are playing Lake Harvest (now Kariba Waves) in our next game. We are going to Kariba, so it’s an away game and very tricky again.

“We don’t want to lose focus because we are on top, nine points is not a big margin, any team from number two to 10th position still have a chance to overtaking us. But we want to keep that momentum, collect three points again in our next game,” said Mtizwa.

Mtizwa was, however, full of praise for his team following their victory over Chegutu Pirates.

“In the first half they gave us a good run, we thought the match would go in favour of the other side. But in the second half our boys came back a very good spirited side. It was a good day for us, all the goals came in the second half,” said Mtizwa.

There were no changes to the top five line up and Karoi United’s chairman, Kenson Kumponda said they are pleased with the point picked away from home.

The Karoi United players last week threatened to boycott the match over their unpaid dues and Kumponda said they resolved the issue, which saw them fulfilling their weekend’s fixture.

“We finally resolved the issue and the players fulfilled the fixture. Going into the match they soldiered on and gave us a good result. A point away from home is very good because we are just playing to avoid relegation.

“And I want to commend the boys for understanding our situation on the challenges we are facing. They had their grievances, but they understood us. We know they have their expectations and families to take care of,” said Kumponda.

Results

Darwin 2, Commando 1; Shamva 1, Banket United 1; Herentals 0, Karoi United 0; ZRP FC 3, Kariba Waves 0; Black Rhinos 3, Chegutu Pirates 0; Golden Valley 2, Cranborne Bullets 2; Blue Swallows 0, ZRP Morris 2; Mushowani 2 v DStv Rangers 1; Gunners 2, Flame Lily 3.