Football
Simba Mushati, Special to ESPN 6y

Ngezi edge Dynamos; Highlanders, Chicken Inn, win

Kelvin Bulaji punished his former club as his 45th-minute header fired Ngezi Platinum Stars to a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Dynamos on matchday 20 in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League on Sunday.

Ngezi's second consecutive win brought them to within two points of FC Platinum, who had played out a goalless draw against visiting CAPS United 24 hours earlier.

The log leaders have now collected two points from the last possible nine to give the chasing pack some renewed hope.

Second-placed Ngezi went into the Rufaro Stadium encounter fully aware a win would revive their title chances after overcoming a run of four defeats in a row.

However, there was no urgency from either side in a first half of few chances, with the match only bursting into life on the stroke of half-time when Bulaji's glancing header sneaked in at the near-post following a Godknows Murwira corner kick.

While victory brought Ngezi closer to the top, vanquished Dynamos dropped down to 13th place, a mere three points above the relegation places. It will not help that Lloyd Mutasa's men visit a revitalised Highlanders on matchday 21.

The Bulawayo giants meanwhile have put the smiles back on the faces of their followers after a 1-0 win at Triangle to make it two wins in a row.

Highlanders did their business early in the Low Veld, with veteran striker Newman Sianchali slamming home just before the 10-minute mark to stun the home side.

Triangle rallied late on to try and salvage a draw, but found the Bosso goalkeeper unyielding as he produced a series of breathtaking saves to help his team climb back into the top four with 35 points, 11 adrift of the log leaders.

Third-placed Chicken Inn clocked up a fourth win in the last five matches as Innocent Mucheneka's second-minute strike proved the difference in a 1-0 win over bottom-placed Mutare City.

The 2015 champions are now nine points behind faltering Platinum, and coach Joey Antipas must be fancying his team's title chances again.

Newcomers Herentals were the biggest movers of the weekend after a 1-0 win over ZPC Kariba lifted them four places up into ninth.

Yadah's 2-1 win over Black Rhinos on Saturday also did their survival chances no harm as they moved up into tenth place.

Veterans Simba Sithole and Milton Makopa were the heroes as Yadah ended Black Rhinos' ten-match unbeaten run. New signing Honey Chimutimunzeve scored for the army side.

Harare City stuttered to their fourth draw in five matches after their clash against Chapungu ended goalless.

Mark Harrison's men have become the league's draw specialists, with half of their 20 matches so far having ended in a stalemate.

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