When Manica Diamonds suffered a third defeat in four games at the Baobab Stadium against champions Ngezi Platinum on March 31, they were bottom of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League standings and nine points behind joint leaders FC Platinum and Highlanders.
Coach Jairos Tapera was facing the chop.
Losing to Simba Bhora (2-3) and drawing (0-0) with newcomers Chegutu Pirates at home and then losing away to TelOne (1-3) and Ngezi Platinum (0-1) was a disastrous start for a team tipped to fight for the title.
With Norman Mapeza and Kelvin Kaindu in explosive starts for FC Platinum and Highlanders, the pressure was on the Manica Diamonds leadership to act.
They acted and gave Tapera more time to find a winning formula with a team that had made several pre-season acquisitions.
It has turned out to be the best decision made in the history of the club -at least for now.
Manica Diamonds have won every league match played since April and enjoy an eight-point advantage over Simba Bhora over a seven-match period between April Fools Day and May 12.
They have garnered 10 points more than FC Platinum and 12 better than Highlanders over the last seven match days to enjoy a one-point lead at the summit.
While they acquired several attacking players for the 2024 campaign, Manica Diamonds' success so far has been built around a solid defence, which has conceded just one goal in the last seven matches.
Herentals were the last team to score against Manica Diamonds in a 1-2 loss at home on April 13 while they kept clean sheets in the next five matches against CAPS United (1-0), Arenel Movers (1-0), FC Platinum (1-0), ZPC Kariba (2-0) and Bikita Minerals (1-0).
Before the current winning run, Manica Diamonds had conceded seven goals in three matches against Simba Bhora, TelOne, and Ngezi Platinum.
Now they have the second-best defence in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign having conceded eight goals, two more than Chicken Inn who have the best record so far.
Only twice did Manica Diamonds score more than one goal in a match as they beat Herentals (2-1) and ZPC Kariba (2-0).
Tapera would be worried that they scored just nine goals in seven successive victories but there is comfort in that only FC Platinum have more goals (10) over the same period.
More comforting is that three of the 10 goals for FC Platinum came from the boardroom following their abandoned match against CAPS United in which they were leading 1-0 in the final minutes.
Last 7 Weeks
P W D L F A Pts
Manica Diamonds 7 7 0 0 9 1 21
Simba Bhora 7 4 1 2 6 5 13
FC Platinum 7 3 2 2 10 6 11
Chicken Inn 7 3 2 2 6 4 11
CAPS United 7 3 1 3 8 7 10
Herentals 7 3 1 3 8 7 10
Greenfuel 7 3 1 3 6 5 10
Highlanders 7 2 3 2 9 7 9
Bikita Minerals 7 2 3 2 7 6 9
Bulawayo Chiefs 7 2 3 2 3 4 9
Yadah 7 2 2 3 8 9 8
Dynamos* 6 1 4 1 4 4 7
Ngezi Platinum 7 1 4 2 8 9 7
Chegutu Pirates* 6 2 1 3 5 7 7
Arenel Movers 7 1 4 2 5 8 7
ZPC Kariba 7 1 3 3 3 6 6
Hwange 7 0 3 4 3 9 3
First 4 weeks
P W D L F A Pts
FC Platinum 4 3 1 0 6 2 10
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Highlanders 4 3 1 0 6 2 10
Byo Chiefs 4 2 1 1 7 4 7
Simba Bhora 4 2 1 1 6 4 7
CAPS United 4 2 0 2 6 3 6
Chicken Inn 4 1 3 0 3 2 6
ZPC Kariba 4 1 3 0 3 2 6
TelOne 4 1 2 1 6 6 5
Dynamos 4 1 2 1 4 4 5
GreenFuel 4 1 2 1 4 4 5
Ngezi Platinum 4 1 2 1 1 2 5
Bikita Minerals 3 1 1 1 2 2 4
Chegutu Pirates 4 1 1 2 1 2 4
Hwange 4 1 1 2 3 6 4
Arenel Movers 4 0 3 1 1 3 3
Yadah 4 0 2 2 2 5 2
Herentals 3 0 1 2 0 3 1
Manica Diamonds 4 0 1 3 3 7 1
