At the age of 48, Herentals fonder and player Innocent Benza has decided to take the Premier Soccer League (PSL) relegation matrix into his own hands after helping his side, “The Students” snatch three precious points away at the Colliery in Hwange.
The PSL’s oldest players was instrumental in Herentals push for survival with a heart rending performance that easily won him sympathizers from the opposition fans.
Benza set up Blessing Majarira for their second goal after Kelvin Bingala had opened the scoring.
After the assist, with teams deadlocked, Benza took matters into his own hands to score a beauty, capable of winning any match while it remains to be seen whether the wonder goal will go a long way to save the team from the dreaded chop.
However, the win left Chipangano gasping for oxygen in their survival push.
Herentals seems to have turned the corner in the past four premier league outings. The good run in their survival quest started with a nil-all draw against Harare city before travelling to Chiredzi where they managed to hold Triangle, “The Sugar Sugar Boys” to a 1-all draw. The Students had taken an early lead, only to concede a 90th minute goal.
The Students went on to beat relegation mates Mushowani, who are now sure of heading back to the unfashionable world of Northern region Division One next season.
Yesterday’s win took them two places from the relegation zone with three more teams yet to be confirmed relegation candidates.
However, Herentals face a harlequin task in the remaining two fixtures as they have to navigate their way through championship chasing Chicken Inn before facing Bulawayo Chiefs in yet another “Battle for Survival” encounter that might have a bearing in the relegation mix.
AT 33 points, Chipanagno still hobours chances of survival, while Yadah at 35 points, also still hope for “Devine Intervention” for survival.
Lloyd Chitembwe’s Harare City and Bulawayo Chiefs are also in the relegation jigsaw puzzle with two rounds of matches still to be played, with both teams at 38 points.
Rahman Gumbo’s TelOne and army side Chapungu are still within the relegation mix as well as they have both amassed 39 pints with two rounds of matches remaining.
It remains to be seen who will navigate the curves around the relegation battle and stay up while three more teams will join Mushowani back to Division One.
At the top, Caps United beat city rivals Dynamos to maintain their position at the top of the log table while FC Platinum breath hot on their heals with two points shy of the log leaders.
