Sports / Soccer
ZPC Kariba hogged the limelight at Soccer Star Awards
13 Dec 2014 at 10:57hrs | Views
ZPC Kariba hogged the limelight after defender Dennis Dauda was crowned Soccer Star of the Year while teammates Tendai Hove and Limited Chikafa completed the top three at a banquet held in Harare last night.
The Premiership newboys, who narrowly missed on the opportunity to grab the title in their debut season, rounded off a fairy-tale campaign by grabbing all the top prizes.
Dauda claimed the honours and the US$6 000 cheque ahead of goalkeeper Hove who was the first runner up while veteran forward Chikafa completed his comeback season with the medal for the second runner-up.
Hove was again called to the winners' podium to receive the Goalkeeper of the Year award for his sterling performances between the posts.
Their coach Saul Chaminuka was named Coach of the Year after beating a serious challenge from Dynamos' Callisto Pasuwa.
The champions were the biggest losers on the night as their gold medal hopefuls Stephen Alimenda, Themba Ndlovu and coach Pasuwa walked home empty handed.
Pasuwa, however, will walk away with his head high after he had scaled new heights by leading the Harare giants to four titles in succession before announcing his retirement.
The organisers also took the platform to honour the Glamour Boys at the function as they were handed a replica trophy to recognize their achievements in winning the championship three times in a row last year.
There was more consolation for Dynamos as their rightback Blessing Moyo was unveiled as the best candidate for the Rookie of the Year award.
Moyo was in competition for the accolade with the FC Platinum duo of Walter Musona and Wisdom Mutasa while impressive goalkeeper and How Mine goalkeeper Donovan Bernard was also in the mix.
Youthful referee Brighton Chimene from Rusape was named Referee of the Year ahead of Salani Ncube and Stella Ruvinga. Ambitious side FC Platinum walked away with the award for the Most Disciplined Team.
But the awards gala belonged to the Premiership debutants ZPC Kariba who contributed three players to the calendar and had their mentor Chaminuka being hailed as the best.
It was a special night especially for the Kwekwe-born Dauda who was playing Premiership football for the first time after making his way from the lower Divisions where he played for DSTv Rangers before joining the Kariba side.
Hove also made his debut in the topflight league this year and proved he had the safest pair of hands among the class of 2014 with some outstanding performances that inspired ZPC Kariba to second place finish.
Their coach Chaminuka transformed his newly promoted side into serious title contenders but they disappointingly gave away the advantage in the race to finish a point behind champions Dynamos on a dramatic last day of the season.
Chaminuka's script read more like his predecessor's, Bigboy Mawiwi, who had a similar run with Harare City but had a sad return with the side, losing the opening six games on the trot before getting fired midway through the season.
However, Chaminuka said his Premiership newcomers will not rest during the off season as they seek to maintain their presence in their second season in the topflight league.
"I am sure after this year's performances we are the team to beat when the new season begins. So we are not going to rest on our laurels because if we are to come back next year thinking that our performance in the just-ended season will repeat itself we will be lying to ourselves.
"So we should be working on a serious programme during the pre-season. Obviously we will bring in some new players to beef up the squad. We have since identified those who will be off-loaded to create the space.
"At the moment we are busy looking at the locals. We want them to be part of the story. We have been working specifically with those with ages from 16-19 the whole of this week. I am sure we may get a few talented boys whom we are going to prepare to train with the first team when the pre-season begins.
"You can't be looking outside all the time. This year we had players like Tendai (Hove), Trevor (Chikede), Wilson Muchenje, Daniel Chakupe and Keith Mavunga, all these players were born and bred here. We also had Dexter Phiri who came from Chegutu but is almost like a local guy.
"Hopefully our performance with these guys this year has challenged one or two local youngsters to believe that they can also do it," said Chaminuka.
Soccer Star: Dennis Dauda (ZPC Kariba)
1st Runner-up: Tendai Hove (ZPC Kariba)
2nd Runner-up: Limited Chikafa (ZPC Kariba)
Other finalists: David Kutyauripo (Harare City), Stephen Alimenda, Themba Ndlovu (Dynamos), Thabani Kamusoko (FC Platinum), Charles Sibanda (Highlanders), Tendai Samanja (CAPS United), Evans Rusike (Hwange), Kudakwashe Musharu (How Mine)
Coach of the Year: Saul Chaminuka (ZPC Kariba)
Golden Boot: Charles Sibanda/Kuda Musharu (12 goals each)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Tendai Hove(ZPC Kariba)
Rookie of the Year: Blessing Moyo (Dynamos)
Most Disciplined Team: FC Platinum
Referee of the year: Brighton Chimene
1st Runner up: Salani Ncube
2nd Runner-up: Stella Ruvinga.
The Premiership newboys, who narrowly missed on the opportunity to grab the title in their debut season, rounded off a fairy-tale campaign by grabbing all the top prizes.
Dauda claimed the honours and the US$6 000 cheque ahead of goalkeeper Hove who was the first runner up while veteran forward Chikafa completed his comeback season with the medal for the second runner-up.
Hove was again called to the winners' podium to receive the Goalkeeper of the Year award for his sterling performances between the posts.
Their coach Saul Chaminuka was named Coach of the Year after beating a serious challenge from Dynamos' Callisto Pasuwa.
The champions were the biggest losers on the night as their gold medal hopefuls Stephen Alimenda, Themba Ndlovu and coach Pasuwa walked home empty handed.
Pasuwa, however, will walk away with his head high after he had scaled new heights by leading the Harare giants to four titles in succession before announcing his retirement.
The organisers also took the platform to honour the Glamour Boys at the function as they were handed a replica trophy to recognize their achievements in winning the championship three times in a row last year.
There was more consolation for Dynamos as their rightback Blessing Moyo was unveiled as the best candidate for the Rookie of the Year award.
Moyo was in competition for the accolade with the FC Platinum duo of Walter Musona and Wisdom Mutasa while impressive goalkeeper and How Mine goalkeeper Donovan Bernard was also in the mix.
Youthful referee Brighton Chimene from Rusape was named Referee of the Year ahead of Salani Ncube and Stella Ruvinga. Ambitious side FC Platinum walked away with the award for the Most Disciplined Team.
But the awards gala belonged to the Premiership debutants ZPC Kariba who contributed three players to the calendar and had their mentor Chaminuka being hailed as the best.
It was a special night especially for the Kwekwe-born Dauda who was playing Premiership football for the first time after making his way from the lower Divisions where he played for DSTv Rangers before joining the Kariba side.
Hove also made his debut in the topflight league this year and proved he had the safest pair of hands among the class of 2014 with some outstanding performances that inspired ZPC Kariba to second place finish.
Their coach Chaminuka transformed his newly promoted side into serious title contenders but they disappointingly gave away the advantage in the race to finish a point behind champions Dynamos on a dramatic last day of the season.
Chaminuka's script read more like his predecessor's, Bigboy Mawiwi, who had a similar run with Harare City but had a sad return with the side, losing the opening six games on the trot before getting fired midway through the season.
However, Chaminuka said his Premiership newcomers will not rest during the off season as they seek to maintain their presence in their second season in the topflight league.
"So we should be working on a serious programme during the pre-season. Obviously we will bring in some new players to beef up the squad. We have since identified those who will be off-loaded to create the space.
"At the moment we are busy looking at the locals. We want them to be part of the story. We have been working specifically with those with ages from 16-19 the whole of this week. I am sure we may get a few talented boys whom we are going to prepare to train with the first team when the pre-season begins.
"You can't be looking outside all the time. This year we had players like Tendai (Hove), Trevor (Chikede), Wilson Muchenje, Daniel Chakupe and Keith Mavunga, all these players were born and bred here. We also had Dexter Phiri who came from Chegutu but is almost like a local guy.
"Hopefully our performance with these guys this year has challenged one or two local youngsters to believe that they can also do it," said Chaminuka.
Soccer Star: Dennis Dauda (ZPC Kariba)
1st Runner-up: Tendai Hove (ZPC Kariba)
2nd Runner-up: Limited Chikafa (ZPC Kariba)
Other finalists: David Kutyauripo (Harare City), Stephen Alimenda, Themba Ndlovu (Dynamos), Thabani Kamusoko (FC Platinum), Charles Sibanda (Highlanders), Tendai Samanja (CAPS United), Evans Rusike (Hwange), Kudakwashe Musharu (How Mine)
Coach of the Year: Saul Chaminuka (ZPC Kariba)
Golden Boot: Charles Sibanda/Kuda Musharu (12 goals each)
Goalkeeper of the Year: Tendai Hove(ZPC Kariba)
Rookie of the Year: Blessing Moyo (Dynamos)
Most Disciplined Team: FC Platinum
Referee of the year: Brighton Chimene
1st Runner up: Salani Ncube
2nd Runner-up: Stella Ruvinga.
Source - chronicle
