HARARE – Title contenders Highlanders and Ngezi Platinum’s hopes to keep up in the premiership race suffered another blow as the two sides played out a 1-1 stalemate in Week 23’s headline fixture at Barbourfields stadium on Sunday.
Highlanders were first to celebrate after Brighton Ncube’s effort 37 minutes into the clash put the hosts ahead.
But the defending champions replied through Claude Mapoka after 51 minutes to level the scores.
Highlanders had a chance to restore their advantage after 66 minutes when they were awarded a penalty arising from an incident in which Marvin Sibanda was hacked inside the box but Melikhaya Ncube’s resultant spot kick was saved by Nelson Chadya, in goals for the visitors.
In another Match Day 23 fixture played on Sunday, Hwange found cause to celebrate after beating Chegutu Pirates 1-0 at the Colliery while the match between Manica Diamonds and Herentals College at Sakubva ended goalless.
FC Platinum top the league table on 45 points from 23 games after beating Arenel Movers 3-1 on Saturday.
Simba Bhora are second on 44 points after their stay at the top was cut to just a single week by the league leaders following a 1-1 draw with Dynamos on Saturday.
Ngezi Platinum are third on 38 while Highlanders lie fourth on 37 points.
