MWOS FC’s pre-season journey

MWOS FC gained promotion into the Northern Region Soccer League last year after an exceptional season. They managed to finish the season at the top of the league without losing any matches at home.

Promotion to the NRSL resulted in the need to recruit new players and coaching staff in order to add experience and quality to the squad. Wonder Ngoko was appointed as the head coach for MWOS FC, and he brought his vast knowledge and experience from his time playing in the Premier Soccer League, where he played for Caps United. With the help of his assistant coaches, Warren Mapanga and Farai Hanyani, Wonder Ngoko took his time scouting for players for the upcoming season. In order to fully assess the new squad, MWOS FC had the team play in a few friendly matches as part of their pre-season preparations.

The team first played against PSL side Dynamos FC in a closed-door training session, and not much was disclosed about the results or the performance of the players. However, Head Coach Wonder Ngoko said he was happy with the team’s performances and that they are building formations and tactics that they will use in the upcoming season. Playing against a PSL team gave the team a glimpse of the kind of competition they would face in the NRSL.

Their next friendly match was against a Gweru-based side, TelOne “The Wifi Boys”. They played two matches against them, with the junior and senior teams. The junior team won the match by two goals to nil, and the senior team lost by a goal. The performance, according to the second assistant coach, Farai Hanyani, was another opportunity to see the extent to which the players get along and how well they play together. TelOne recently got relegated from the PSL, and they had the experience and know-how of what it takes to play on the big stage. This is exactly what the coaches were aiming for the players to learn and get used to.

The team took a trip to the Middle Sabi region to face newly promoted PSL side Green Fuels. The boys were confident that they were in form and syncing well, but they lost both the matches they played by an aggregate score of 6-0. The coaches weren’t happy with the performance, and they expressed their dissatisfaction with the players. However, the positive thing about the experience was that they realized how much work they needed to put in and the areas they needed to work on so that they could improve their game going into the new season.

For their next game, the Punters journeyed to Chinhoyi to face a fellow Division one side, Chinhoyi Pirates FC. They played two games and won by a goal aggregate of 5-2. “This is the kind of performance we are looking forward to, and we are confident it continues going into the season”, said head coach Wonder Ngoko.

The Punters’ most recent match was against Omnia FC of Banket. The results spoke volumes about the type of play MWOS FC intended to showcase going into the new season. They managed to outplay Omnia FC and beat them by an aggregate score of 2-0 in the two matches. The coaches and players were all confident and pleased with the results.

So far, MWOS FC has no injury concerns, and they appear to have found the best formation and style of play for the type of players in the squad. Their hope is to go into the season, compete, and emerge victorious.