_By Edwin Muketiwa Msipa_
For years, the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League has been a Harare-Bulawayo affair. Dynamos, Highlanders, CAPS, FC Platinum. Now a new name is being chanted in the mining town of Kwekwe – Hardrock FC.
Saturday’s 97th minute heartbreaker at Rufaro Stadium was not just three points. It was a statement. Hardrock, the so-called small boys, went to the spiritual home of Zimbabwean football, faced 10-man Dynamos in front of 15,000 blue shirts, missed a sitter in the 90th minute, hit the woodwork twice, and still found a way to win.
That is what champions do.
Masimba Mambare’s looping header in the seventh minute of added time was poetic cruelty. A former Dynamos darling returning to Rufaro to silence his old paymasters. It took a former Dynamos man to teach Dynamos how to win ugly. His goal moved Hardrock to 66 points, opening a five-point gap over second-placed Scottland FC on 61 points, though Scottland have a game in hand after their 2-0 win over Petro Atletico on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium courtesy of the old warhorses Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona.
The title race is now a two-horse dagger fight: Hardrock vs Scottland.
*Why Hardrock Are Top*
The September PSL Awards tell the story. Washington Navaya – Player of the Month. Kelvin Kaindu – Coach of the Month. It was a double triumph that confirmed Hardrock are not enjoying a temporary purple patch. They are a system.
Kaindu has done what many foreign and local coaches failed to do in Kwekwe – bring tactical discipline to hardrock miners. His team is defensively organised, led by Martin Mapisa who at Rufaro cut crosses with Test cricket authority, and offensively ruthless. Against Dynamos, even down to tactical fouls, they kept their shape after Dynamos’ Ghanaian forward Frank Agyemang was sent off in the 37th minute.
That red card was supposed to make it easy. It made it harder. Dynamos, under Romanian Saul Cioaba, defended with 10 men behind Christopher Netty, who was man-of-the-match despite being on the losing side. Netty blocked, tackled, and launched a 40-metre drive that Mapisa had to parry. Dynamos had the best chance through Sidibe in the 73rd minute – a clear run, three steps, but he blazed over.
Hardrock’s failing was their finishing. Prince Dube missed from inside the six-yard box in the 12th minute. Navaya, the league’s top marksman, missed the sitter of the season in the 90th minute – three metres, keeper beaten, over the bar. On another day, that would be two points dropped and the headline: “Wasteful Hardrock Punished.”
But Kaindu’s bench won it. His 75th-minute substitution – Sizwe Khumalo off, Masimba Mambare on – was the masterstroke. Mambare hit the post, then won it. His experience of Rufaro’s bumpy pitch, of Dynamos’ nervous crowd, counted.
*The Scottland Threat*
Scottland FC cannot be ignored. Bankrolled and star-studded, they still have a game in hand. Billiat and Musona scoring on Sunday reminds everyone that while Hardrock has momentum, Scottland has pedigree. Billiat at 36 still dribbles like a teenager. Musona still scores from nothing.
If Scottland win their game in hand, the gap becomes two points. That sets up a potential title decider when the two sides meet.
*Verdict*
Hardrock have moved from contenders to favourites because they have what Zimbabwean football often lacks – resilience. They have a coach in Kaindu who admitted after Rufaro that “this was my most difficult game this season” – humility. They have a striker in Navaya whose goals have kept them in the race, and a squad player in Mambare who proves their depth.
Dynamos coach Cioaba walking straight to the tunnel without talking to the press sums it up.
The daggers are drawn. Kwekwe vs Harare’s moneybags. Hardrock vs Scottland. Five points clear with a couple of games to go – Kwekwe is dreaming of a landmark first PSL title.
