The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
MANICALAND’s flagship football club for the 2019 season Manica Diamonds coach Luke Masomere is only wishing to see his team finish the 2019 Castle Lager Premiership League season on a respectable position as well as make huge impact in a cup competition.
The well travelled coach has already started coming up with his list of players for next season that will be able to provide a smile not only on his face but on the faces of multitudes of football loving people of the province.
Masomere said they are aiming at finishing the league on a respectable position next season.
“It is good that we are now playing without any pressure after sealing promotion into the Premier Soccer League. We have always wanted to get promoted and it is good that we have done that earlier. It gives us more time to prepare for the Premiership season.
“Make no mistake we are not going to be easy opponents in the Premiership. In fact, we are aiming at ending the season on a respectable position. We also want to make our presence felt in the cup competition that will be played in the Premiership in 2019. We cannot talk about winning the championship but if the chance presents itself it would be bonus for us,” he said.
Manica Diamonds officially sealed promotion into the domestic top flight league during last weekend when they took their tally to an unassailable 69 points with five matches remaining before the curtain comes down on the Zifa Eastern Region Division One League. The Gem Boys, as Manica Diamonds are fondly referred to by their increasing fan base in the eastern border city, were confirmed Zifa Eastern Region Division One champions after second placed Tenax fell to Bikita Mineral 3-2 on Saturday at Lithium Stadium in Bikita.
The result left correctional services outfit Tenax trailing the log leaders by 17 points, a margin that is unassailable given that five rounds of league matches are now left before the season ends.
Manica Diamonds went on to stretch their lead at the summit of the table to 20 points when they beat Melfort 2-0 at Mutare Boys High grounds on Sunday in a match that also marked goalkeeper Jorum Muchambo’s 17th clean sheet.
The Gem Boys’ Roderick “Jecha” Mupfudza thrust his team into the lead before the league’s current top goal scorer Steven “Dealer” Sibanda capped a fine performance with a second half goal to outplay visiting Melfort.
After the final whistle, it was pomp and funfair for a sizable crowd that gathered at Mutare Boys High grounds on Sunday as they celebrated the Manica Diamonds’ promotion. Club chairman Masimba Chihowa thanked all stakeholders who made their dream a reality.
“I really want to thank everyone who made this dream a reality. We are happy to have finally secured promotion officially. This is something that we were working towards achieving since day one.
“We have already started preparing for life in a more competitive league and we are not going there to make up numbers. We really have to make the people of Manicaland proud. In fact, we want to bring back the good old days when we had Tanganda in Mutare,” the former Fifa panel match official said.
Manica Diamonds founding chairman Newton Demba, who is also the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company supply chief executive, said they will ensure the team gets adequate preparations ahead of the start of the 2019 Castle Lager Premiership season.
“Yes we are happy that we have won promotion into the top flight league but I am one person who believes in preparations and that means adequate preparations ahead of the 2019 Castle Lager Premiership season. We want to ensure that we make our impact felt in the top flight league.
“The other thing that we are to make sure we avid is that of getting promoted and relegated after just one season. We want to ensure that we are a permanent feature of the Premiership and I have no doubt that we can achieve that. We will not put pressure on the technical department. They will have their time to scout for players that they intend to use and we will assist accordingly,” he said.
