HARARE - Elated Triangle Football Club coach Gishon “Gizha” Ntini reckons his newly-promoted team is ready to challenge the established clubs in Castle Premiership when the new season begins early next year.
Traingle sealed promotion into the Zimbabwean top flight league at the weekend, becoming the first ever team from the country’s Lowveld to achieve the feat.
Ntini, who is no stranger to top flight management having previously coached CAPS United, Shooting Stars and Black Rhinos in the PSL, described Triangle as a “big team” due to its huge fan base in the Lowveld.
The animated coach even went to the extent of declaring that only traditional giants Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United draw more fans than his team, which plays its home games at Gibbo Stadium in Triangle.
“Mark my words, I think only Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United will match our supporters in numbers, otherwise there is no other club with as many supporters as us,” Ntini said.
Powered by Tawanda Muyendi’s 27 goals, Triangle led the Eastern Region from start to finish, plundering 91 goals in the process, a tally they could add to with two games remaining in the season.
“We are getting into the Premiership on merit,” Ntini said.
“We worked hard right from the top management to the players. We were united, we had one goal.”
Ntini said he has already started working on a “master plan” for the club’s debut season in the Premiership.
“I drafted a master plan at the start of the season. We wanted to accumulate 76 points, right now we have 73 with two games to go. We set an objective of 95 goals, at the moment we are seating on 91.”
Triangle have been toiling in the lower divisions since the country’s Independence in 1980.
The Lowveld club was one of the pioneers of the Southern Region Division One league in the early 80’s before being drafted into the Eastern Region league in 2001.
“The community of Triangle has been waiting for this for a long time,” Ntini said.
“The supporters were losing hope. But alas, we have not only made it, but we have done it unchallenged for much of the season.”