CHAMPIONS, Herentals, bade farewell to the Northern Region Soccer League in style by breaking the record for the most points achieved by a team in a season in recent times.

Herentals’ 3-1 victory –their 25th of the season- at ZRP Morris ensured that they finished on 80 points over the weekend.

This is the first time since the adoption of a 34-week season in 2013 that a championship winning team has managed to end the season with 80 points or more.

The record had been held and shared between Flame Lily and Ngezi Platinum who amassed 76 points each in 2014 and 2015 respectively whilst ZPC Kariba had 75 points in 2013 and Black Rhinos 69 points in 2016.

“Winning matches week in and week out gave us more confidence and made us reach the 80 points mark,” Herentals coach, Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva said.

“This was amazing. I made it a short term objective to break the record set before and set a new record.”

Herentals won the league title with seven games to spare.

Their best game in terms of goals margin was on Match Day 12 when they hammered Trojan Stars by half-a-dozen with their worst possibly being a 2-0 loss at Blue Swallows on Match Day 28.

In spite of these hiccups, Mutiwekuziva hailed his charges for a brave fight that sees them on top and now preparing for the Premiership.

He described their run this season as a ‘total performance’.

“Performance was excellent this season registering 25 wins, five draws and four losses; it’s not a joke. It was total performance with the aim of achieving the prime goal of Premier League promotion.

“We did not get it easy but hard work, total concentration, commitment and unity made us to overcome resistance from our opponents,” he said.

@peeslattsB3N