HIGHLANDERS and Chicken Inn won their games on Sunday, bringing smiles to faces of their supporters.
Bosso won their second match of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Caps while the GameCocks picked their first win of the seaon after defeating fading Harare giants, Dynamos.
Bosso and Chicken Inn are the only remaining teams from the southern region in the premier league after Bulawayo Chiefs, Hwange and Arenel were relegated.
Zifa Southern Region Division One champions ZPC Hwange passed on its franchise to Mwos from the Northern Region.
Highlanders beat troubled Caps United at Barbourfields Stadium, having lost their first game to league newbies Mwos, beating another newcomer Kwekwe United before playing three draws with Green Fuel, debutants Scottland FC and returnees Triangle.
With that win, courtesy of a solitary first-half goal by Reason Sibanda, Highlanders moved two steps up the ladder to seventh position with nine points ahead of another tough assignment away to former league champions Ngezi Platinum Stars, who despite suffering their first defeat of the season to TelOne at the weekend, had a glorious start to the season.
It was not the best of games that usually characterise Highlanders and Caps United matches, but coach Kelvin Kaindu believes it was a crucial victory after a bad start to the season.
“The number of games that we have drawn, the points that we have dropped are in games that we have dominated, games that we have given away points at the last minute but for us to pick up maximum points, slowly we are ascending on the log-standings. I said before that we will use the first six games just to prepare for the season and I am sure from here we might be able to get a revamp,” Kaindu said after the match.
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Caps United are in trouble. On Sunday, under-fire coach Lloyd Chitembwe did not attend the post-match interviews which were handled by his assistant, Tonderai Marume.
The Green Machine has one win in the bag, one draw and four defeats and second from the bottom on the log-table with four points. Fans have called for Chitembwe's dismissal over poor results.
After edging Dynamos at Rufaro Stadium, Chicken Inn also made a steady rise on the table to 11th from 15th with a point tally of seven.
Before the win, the Joey Antipas-coached side drew four matches against Bikita Minerals, Yadah, FC Platinum and Herentals, with a defeat to ZPC Kariba.
Antipas said it was a good win against Dynamos and that they need to build on it going forward as they host reigning champions Simba Bhora in the next game.
“A good win it was yesterday (Sunday). One thing I must say is that I am proud of the boys. They put up a splendid show, well disciplined and we were the better side. Going forward, we are all happy; the players are happy and winning brings happiness into the family.
"Hopefully, we have turned the corner now. If you look at the games that we have played, we have been unfortunate, but now we must continue building from the result we had. The boys gave 100% and we need that in every game. And if we continue doing that, we will be on the road to recovery.
"We have to keep on working hard, motivating the players and getting the players to believe because a happy player is a good player. We just take it game by game and see how it goes,” Antipas said.
Lloyd Chigowe, the Dynamos’ gaffer, is slowly becoming unpopular with the club fans. He also sent assistant Mark Mathe for the post-match Press conference.
DeMbare has won one match in six games, with three draws and two defeats.
