By Sports writer
SIMBA BHORA moved three points clear at the top of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League with a 1-0 win against Dynamos.
A late Junior Makunike strike settled the contest at a packed Wadzanayi stadium in Shamva.
The defending champions are now on 43 points, three more than second placed MWOS, who lost 2-0 to FC Platinum.
Far from pushing Simba closer to their back to back titles, the victory also sunk Dembare further down the relegation waters.
The former league champions have now lost their last three matches and have failed to hit the nets in their last four outings.
Dembare now have their work cut out for them if they are to survive the chop.
Dynamos coach Saul Chaminuka feels his side is being short changed by poor match officiating.
“It’s unfortunate we end up being tainted as bad losers,” Chaminuka said in his post match remarks.
“The unfortunate thing is that in the majority of games we lose, the match officials are letting us down.
“Today the turning point was when our striker won the ball from the defender and with the keeper to beat, the referee blows.
“We would have wanted a situation where the referee allows the striker to take the shot and miss or score so that the defender knows, you don’t fool around as the last man.
“But when we talk about these things we are tainted as bad losers, I am not a bad loser.”
Dembare remains second from bottom on 15 points from 20 matches.
FC Platinum hands MWOS first home defeat
Elsewhere, MWOS suffered their first home defeat of the season, losing 2-0 to FC Platinum.
MWOS coach Lloyd Mutasa was gracious in defeat and is already looking forward to making a quick comeback.
“Congratulations to Norman Mapeza and his team, they played well, created chances and made good use of them,”Mutasa said.
“For us, it is tough luck, we created chances but failed to make good use of them.
“Losing for the first time at home we just have to pay he up the boys and tell them it’s part and parcel of the game
“To be a great player, a great team, you need to bounce back as early as possible.”
At Bata stadium, Yadah edged Kwekwe United 1-0 to move out of the relegation waters.
Kwekwe United defender Genesis Munashe scored an own goal in the 17th minute.
The match was however, without incident as it kicked off late after the teams were locked out of the stadium by the owners.
Sheasham FC who owns Bata stadium demanded that the home team settle their outstanding arrears first.
The match only kicked off 25 minutes late after a series of negotiations between the two parties.
Kwekwe United coach Masimba Dinyero blamed the off-field mishaps for his team’s loss.
“This is not good for the youngsters,” he quipped.
“Bad things that are happening before the matches affect players, they lose focus and concentration.
“We need these youngsters to be focused from the start to finish but when you have disturbances it affects them.”
