DAY 1 TURNS OUT TO BE A DRAW-FEST | LEAGUE AND CUP DOUBLE DREAM UP IN SMOKE
Day 1: Form Book Torn To Shreds
Day 1 of the FSSL Paynet Cup tournament turned out to be a draw-fest with five of the eight matches played being nil-all draws. Pitch A, where Group A & B teams played their matches did not yield any goals and all the tournament’s seven goals on the day were scored on Pitch B. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, ZB Bank and ZB Life however bucked the draw trend and managed to secure victories.
Probably the biggest surprises of the opening day were in Group A – the so-called Group of Death – where 2017 FSSL Champions and 2016 semi-finalists FBC drew with Agribank while last year’s losing finalists CBZ drew with invitees Steward Bank. But such is the unpredictability of cup games- even the so-called small teams bring their A-game to the tournament and the form book is torn to shreds.
Day 2: League and Cup Double Quest Up In Smoke
… As 2016 semi-finalists Fall By the Wayside
On Day 2, FBC’s chase for the League and Cup double was dealt a fatal blow when the 2017 FSSL Champions played out two more goalless draws against CBZ and Steward Bank. This meant that FBC bowed out of the competition without scoring a single goal, and interestingly without conceding any either.
Stewards Bank could be the surprise package of the tournament having drawn with highly rated FBC and CBZ and managing to beat Agribank. Their progress will however come under serious scrutiny as their quarter final berth is against a ZB Bank team that emerged the best placed group winner with 7 points from two wins and a draw to top Group C. If the tournament is be won on the basis of history, then ZB Bank could easily walk away with it because they have previously won it three times and they have been fairly consistent in this tournament. Alongside CABS, they are the only two teams to have scored in two games, both of which they won.
And now for some of the key highlights of the tournament:
- Both finalists (Standard Chartered Bank and CBZ) for the 2016 Paynet Cup remain in contention for another bite of the cherry at the 2017 finals as they are set to avoid each other in the semi-finals if they can clear the hurdles mounted by CABS and Old Mutual respectively.
- Half of the invited teams (Steward, IPEC & ZB Life qualified for the knock-out stages, which indicates that they are fairly strong teams, even though they do not currently play in the FSSL.
- After working hard to win the league title, fatigue could have been part of the contributory factors for the early exit of FBC. The other 2016 semi-finalist, Ecobank only managed a single goal-less draw and also bowed out without scoring a goal but conceded three (3).
- CBZ was the highest scoring team with a 5-goal haul although this was against one team, Agribank which incidentally conceded the highest number of goals at six (6).
- A total of twenty eight (28) goals were scored in the group stages of this year’s tournament
City Physiotherapy Clinic Provides On-Site Services
Meanwhile City Physiotherapy Clinic (CPC) provided services at this year’s tournament and attended to injured players while systematically recording the relevant statistics with the intention of producing a post-tournament report. Clubs could use the statistics to get an insight into the most common types of injury and try to take preventive/precautionary measures. The tournament’s organisers figured that having CPC for the rest of the tournament was a more appropriate arrangement than having an ambulance which can only transport the injured to a medical facility while CPC can render immediate medical assistance on site. The presence of CPC at this year’s tournament augurs well for the commercial possibilities of the tournament as future tournaments could be a platform for service providers to showcase their services.
MFSB Sport captured some of the weekend action and shares some images:
- ZB Bank, the best placed team which topped Group C with 7 points
- Referees Panel
- Group B Winners IPEC
- City Physiotherapy Clinic
