Zvishavane – Champions FC Platinum capped off a memorable season in style after a dominant 3-0 win against Cranborne Bullets in their final match of the 2021-2022 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at the Mandava Stadium on Saturday.
After having already won their fourth successive Premiership title a fortnight ago, FC Platinum came into the last match of the season aiming to finish the season on a high before their coronation.
And they deservedly achieved it by making light work of Cranborne Bullets.
FC Platinum surged into a 2-0 lead at halftime through goals from inform forward Walter Musona and Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya before Panashe Mutimbanyoka capped off a comfortable win with a second half goal.
Musona opened the scoring in the 11th minute after finishing off a brilliant move involving the duo of Mutimbanyoka and Ngwenya.
FC Platinum doubled their lead 10 minutes before halftime when Ngwenya tapped the ball home from a low cross whipped in by Mutimbanyoka, who needed just 10 minutes after the restart to score the third goal.
Congratulations to the 2021/22 Castle Lager PSL Champions @FCPlatinum! pic.twitter.com/kRrtUVyZSa
— Castle Lager PSL ZW (@CastleLagerPSL) November 12, 2022
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza was elated after winning his third title with the club and paid tribute to his charges.
“For the club, this is their fourth one but personally this is my third with the club. We did well and this is a special one, different from the two I presided on,” Mapeza said.
“What makes this special is the fact that this season, we had rookies not the seasoned players we had in the other seasons. We were on top of the game despite all the minor setbacks.
“We did well and we pushed until the end. All in all I sum it up as my best season. We did everything that we was needed although we faced serious competition from all teams,” he added.
The victory means FC Platinum ended the season with 75 points from 33 matches, 12 points clear of second placed Chicken Inn.
The Gamecocks secured second position on the log with a 1-0 win against Triangle at Luveve Stadium.
In another match played on Saturday, Highlanders suffered an embarrassing 3-1 defeat against relegated Harare City at the National Sports Stadium.
Ngezi Platinum secured a top four finish with a 5-0 hammering of division one-bound Whawha.
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Results and Fixtures
Saturday: Chicken Inn 1-0 Triangle United, Harare City 3-1 Highlanders, Ngezi Platinum 5-0 Whawha, ZPC Kariba 3-1 Herentals Black Rhinos 0-0 Bulawayo City
Sunday: Tenax v Manica Diamonds (Vengere); Bulawayo Chiefs v Yadah (Luveve); Dynamos v Caps United (NSS)