By Givemore Makonye
With the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League games on hold until after the international break, the three Midlands Province ambassadors namely FC Platinum, TelOne FC and Hardrock FC have had mixed fortunes.
After four weeks of action, matches resume on the weekend of April 2 to 3 in week 5.
Former Champions FC Platinum have started on a low note securing a single victory, conceding a narrow away loss at Ngezi Platinum and sharing spoils in the other two encounters.
While there have been high expectations from FC Platinum fans, most analysts believe that the new mentor Joel Luphahla is still settling at the team after the departure of his predecessor and many other seasoned players.
Luphahla replaced long serving Coach Norman Mapeza who joined Champions Scottland FC at the start of the season.
Upon assuming his duties, the former Warriors tearaway striker embarked on a massive transformation that saw the arrival of numerous players that include goalkeeper Manfred Ekoi, Emmanuel Dogbey, Trevor Bhunu, McKinnon Mushore and Garikai Dematsika among numerous players who were signed to help write a new FC Platinum chapter under Luphahla.
After a memorable 2025 season in which they finished amongst the top five teams in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League and producing the Soccer Star and Top Goalscorer Washington Navaya,Telone FC have struggled to find their touch.
This has seen them losing two home matches and amassing a paltry two points from the two draws against MWOS FC and FC Platinum.
Despite the slow start to the season, coach Hebert Maruwa maintains that his team will rediscover the winning formula and start collecting vital points.
“It’s still early and we still have time to recover and start winning games,” Maruwa told reporters after the 2-2 draw at FC Platinum.
Hardrock FC have proved to be the best team from the region at the moment after getting seven points from the opening four fixtures.
Going into their last away encounter at Caps United, they were yet to concede a goal.
Unfortunately, they lost 0-2 at Rufaro Stadium after an eventful afternoon that saw them fighting viciously to repel a barrage of attacks by the marauding Caps United.
Hardrock resume the league with a home fixture against Herentals College at their beloved Chahwanda Stadium.
TelOne have a tricky home fixture against Scottland, while FC Platinum travel to Barbourfields Stadium to face giants Highlanders, now under the tutelage of the legendary Benjamin Mwaruwaru
