BY BHEKIMPILO WEZA
Dragons have been crowned the 2021 Mvuthu Football League champions after a scintillating display that saw them dispatch a fighting Zamalek 1-0 in a closely contested semi-final played at Chidobe Stadium on Sunday.
The win was the team’s first title in six years, and it was their chief striker Mqabuko Ndlovu, who gave them the lead in 20 minutes of added time.
The referee pushed the extra time up to 23 minutes following multiple injuries during the 90 minutes play.
In other weekend fixtures, second placed Red Wipers beat Black Bulls five goals to two to maintain their position on the table, while fourth placed Ajax succumbed to an embarrassing one nil defeat at the hands of lowly placed Eagles United.
The loss put Ajax in danger of losing out on a top four finish with only one game to play.
Their other opponents who are also chasing a top four finish, CerClass and Lupinyo City, lost the ground as well after losing by three goals to two and five goals to nil respectively to Wounded Buffaloes and Black Leopards.
It was, however, a good weekend for Black Leopards who managed to collect four points in two matches, a result that took them to seventh on the log.
In other matches, Masters beat Black Bulls on Saturday by four goals to zero before being held to a one all draw by Ndlovu United on Sunday while Power Stars got their first win in 13 matches after beating Mopane 1-0 thanks to Themba Mathe’s goal in the first half.
The win by Power Stars left them rooted in the bottom four with only the last round of matches left.
The Mvuthu Football Association League has been running in patches with many football supporters doubting that it will ever come to an end, but the victory by Dragons on Sunday signaled the end of a competition that has seen teams endure eight months of anxiety and despair because of Covid-19.
Dragons coach Lot Ndlovu applauded his players’ efforts and endurance throughout the year.
“l am happy and would like to thank my players, supporters and everyone who has been supporting Dragons, this cup is yours Chidobe community,” Ndlovu said.
The league champions will have to wait for next week to receive their prize when they take on Eagles in their final match.
Before the handover, they will be given a guard of honour before kick-off for their victory.
Apart from Covid-19 disruptions, various coaches noted several issues that need to be rectified in the next season and that includes the refereeing decisions and teams’ failure to observe time and eruption of violent fights among supporters and at times match officials
Meanwhile, the league has nominated Sebastian Moyo a goalkeeper from Black Leopards, British and Derrick Weza (Zamalek), Previous Mahlangu, Renious Mlambo (Red Wipers),Trust Ncube (Lupinyo City), Phathisa Nyathi (Ajax), Mbekezeli Ndlovu (Masters), Andy Junior Mwembe (Black Bulls), Mqabuko Ndlovu and Abel Dube (Dragons) for the player of the season award.
The top three will be announced today.