NGEZI Platinum Stars' nervy 1-0 victory over Bulawayo Chiefs on Saturday ended a five match winless streak for the defending champions and coach Takesure Chiragwi hopes it will be the catalyst to turn around their league fortunes.
Madamburo, who had lost once and drew four in their previous five matches, got back on track with a Takunda Benhura first half goal.
The win helped ease some pressure on Chiragwi who is under the microscope after his team's underwhelming start to the season.
“I hope with this win, the heavens have smiled on us to go on a good winning run,” a relieved Chiragwi said. “I believe this could be the start of a winning phase for us. I can feel it because we are coming from a tough phase. I am just hoping that the difficult phase is behind us and we can start winning games again. We should start to enjoy the phase of winning, which is important for the team.”
The club’s management have publicly backed Chiragwi and he is appreciative.
“It is very important for me. As the head coach of the team, I am happy to know that my bosses are always there for me. They understand that we are going through a bad phase. They also know that being defending champions is not easy because every team wants to beat us. I really appreciate their support and I am happy because they always give us an umbrella that protect us from any storm. They have been very supportive in everything. This is a great club, to be honest, and we are happy with our management because when the situation is like this, it is also difficult for them but they understand what we are going through.”
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Ngezi Platinum’s major problem this season has been their porous defence which has let in nine goals so far against the eight that they have scored. They have managed to keep five clean sheets in their first 10 games of the season.
Chiragwi is demanding his defence, which was the team’s pillar of strength last season, to pull up their socks.
“If you score goals and then you do not defend well, you do not win matches. The basic football language is to make sure that you concentrate the whole 90 minutes. If you score, defend well, you win. But if you open up at the back and concede easily, then you are likely to lose or draw. We are working on it ... that once we get goals, we do not have to concede nomatter how difficult the situation might be. We have to show resistance at the back,” he added.