Caps United 1-3 Ngezi Platinum
Highlanders 1-1 Yadah
HARARE – Caps United fell 3-1 to Ngezi Platinum while Highlanders drew 1-1 with Yadah in two final Match Day 34 fixtures played on Sunday to seal a disappointing 2024 Zimbabwe premiership campaign for the once mighty clubs.
At Rufaro stadium, Caps United found themselves a goal down just a minute into the clash after Talent Chamboko put the former champions ahead.
Never Tigere doubled the advantage for the miners 14 minutes into the match with Malvin Gaki making it 3 for the visitors after 36 minutes.
The hosts found a face-saver a minute after the half time break through Kingsley Mureremba.
At Barbourfields, Golden Boot winner Lynoth Chikuhwa scored his goal number 17 of the season to give Highlanders the advantage after 8 minutes but Blessing Ndereki levelled the scores for Yadah with another first half strike to end the match with a draw.
The two matches, which in the yesteryear would have come as league championship deciders, put the lid to a domestic football season that saw traditional giants Highlanders, Dynamos and Caps United all miss out on a top four finish.
The three clubs, the oldest and most successful in Zimbabwe football history, have been dominating the local game for decades and winning trophies at will.
But their failure to be part of the league championship question lately adds to the story of a continuous shift to Zimbabwe’s football supremacy.
Instead, it is now mining clubs such as FC Platinum and Ngezi Platinum that have staged a coup, relegating the big boys to hopeless non-contenders.
Highlanders finished the 2024 season placed number 6 on 48 points. The Bulawayo side were 18 points behind champions Simba Bhora who ended the season on 66.
Dynamos finished number 8 on 46 points, an obscene 20 points behind the champions while Caps United ended number 9 on 45.
It is feared the three clubs’ continued slump in form could affect the mood of an already fragile domestic football support base at a time a lot of fans have chosen to stay away from stadiums to partake in sumptuous braai elsewhere or simply watch the more thrilling English premiership on screen.
Said Marvellous Nhongo, a disappointed Dynamos fan, “Back in the day, we used to be treated to a Dynamos, Highlanders, Caps United contest which saw the clubs race each other to the finishing line of the football league and quite often, enjoy cup finals featuring the three.
“But now the story is different. Cup finals are now played by less popular clubs, something that keep sponsors away from the game as they do not get the necessary mileage if finals are not played by clubs which command a bigger following.”
The fan said the Independence Cup and other knockout competitions used to be contested among clubs that finish a season in the top four but that has been abandoned as the big clubs with potential to bring the necessary mileage to sponsors now finish in the middle of the football ladder.
