The ManicaPost
Senior Reporter
IT might have taken them a decade, coming so near yet so far in their relentless quest for Premiership promotion, but Mutare-based correctional services outfit Tenax FC are finally expected to pop the corks on champagne bottles on Sunday when they celebrate their entry into the domestic big boys’ league.
After playing Manicaland Division Two football for just one season, Tenax FC endured nine years in the top five of Zifa’s Eastern Region Division One League ending the season in second position twice, s attaining third position four timeand ending on fourth position five times.
No wonder they had earned themselves the Zifa Eastern Region Division One League’s bridesmaid tag!
But this year, it would need something next to a miracle for Tenax to be denied promotion into Castle Lager Premier Soccer League given that their nemesis in the race, Buffaloes, have to beat Greenfuels 11-0 in the final round of league matches on Sunday while Tenax lose to Ruwa Town without scoring a goal.
Tenax chairman Stefani Masina is confident that there will be nothing to stop his team from attaining Premiership promotion.
“I think it is clear in everyone’s mind that we are going to be celebrating promotion into the Premiership this weekend. Yes, we know we have to win our final match of the season against Ruwa Town, but I guess the writing is on the wall for all to see that Tenax are the 2019 Zifa Eastern Region Division One champions,” the Tenax FC chairman said.
Masina believes his team will be part of the Castle Lager Premiership not just to make up numbers.
“We have come a long way as a team and we feel we deserve this promotion. The experience that we got over the nine years we played in the Zifa Eastern Region Division One will help us stand the heat in the top-flight league.
“Yes, it is a different ball game altogether in terms of Division One football and Premiership football but one cannot doubt the value of experience a club derives from playing Division One football for a long time like we did,” he said.
Tenax will obviously look back and feel proud of their determination to gain Premiership promotion in the face of stiff competition from city rivals Buffaloes and Mutoko outfit FC Makaha.
Inexperience in this year’s Buffaloes technical set-up coupled with glaring acts of indiscipline during pre-match camping period also came in handy for Tenax FC as the army outfit needlessly lost crucial points along the way during the season.
