Harare City miss chance as Black Rhinos tighten grip on top

Harare City missed the chance to close the gap on MCM Estates Northern Region Soccer League leaders Black Rhinos after a shock 2-1 home defeat to MWOS U19 on Thursday.

The Sunshine Boys entered the Week 21 fixture second on the table with 36 points from 20 matches, knowing that victory would have reduced the deficit to just two points behind Black Rhinos, who sit on 41 points after 21 games.

Instead, Harare City’s title charge suffered a major setback as the youthful MWOS U19 side produced an impressive performance to claim all three points. The defeat leaves City stuck on 36 points, five behind the leaders with Black Rhinos also holding a game in hand.

The result hands Black Rhinos an even firmer grip on the summit as the race for promotion continues to gather momentum. Elsewhere, FC Oden also squandered a massive opportunity to climb into the top eight after falling 2-0 to High Range.

Oden started the day in 10th place with 27 points and knew a victory would have lifted them above Chingwere (29 points) into eighth position. Instead, High Range frustrated the promotion hopefuls, condemning Oden to a defeat that leaves them outside the top eight and still on 27 points.

For High Range, the victory moves them onto 27 points, drawing level with FC Oden and Karoi United to further tighten the congested mid-table battle.

At Shamva Mine, there was little to separate the hosts and struggling Marere as the two sides played out a goalless draw. While the point does little to improve either side’s league position, Marere will take encouragement from another valuable away result as they continue their fight against relegation.

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