Ngezi Platinum emerged from match-day 5 with their title credentials reinforced after a last-gasp 1-0 win over Chicken Inn, but Highlanders and FC Platinum did their utmost to keep the pressure on the early pace-setters.
Forward Clive Augusto clinched the winner for Ngezi in the final moments of a tightly-contested encounter to enable the Mhondoro-based upstarts to preserve the only remaining 100 percent record in the new Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League season.
Remarkably, Ngezi are yet to concede in their five matches so far, with goalkeeper Bernard Donovan proving an excellent acquisition after joining from How Mine in the off-season.
Donovan was second-choice for Zimbabwe at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals, only to slide down the Warriors' pecking order over the past year. The 22-year-old's move to Ngezi has placed him firmly in the spotlight and the performances so far suggest he is equal to the challenge.
Bulawayo giants Highlanders remain just two points behind Ngezi after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Nichrut at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday. Bosso wentinto the encounter high on confidence after a 2-0 win over Dynamos last week, but they initially struggled to make their dominance count.
It was left to the 21-year-old Makaruse, one of the team's youngest players who is also among their most experienced, to make the decisive intervention with the winner eight minutes into the second half and ensure another happy afternoon for unbeaten Bosso, who remain third in the standings.
Elsewhere, two second-half goals from Ali Sadiki and Gift Mbweti handed champions Platinum a 2-0 win over Chapungu.
Platinum have coped remarkably well in the absence of head coach Norman Mapeza, who is recovering from a back operation. The Zvishavane-based outfit are tied on 13 points with Highlanders, but sit second by virtue of a superior goal-difference.
In Harare, the much-maligned Denver Mukamba scored one and created another to power CAPS United to a 2-0 win over promoted Herentals at the National Sports Stadium.
Two wins in a row mean CAPS have shaken off the early-season frustration of three consecutive draws, and on Sunday they were indebted to former Dynamos man Mukamba, who created their first before netting the second just after the half-hour mark.
Mukamba's former employers Dynamos continue to sing the blues after bringing back only a point from a trip to fellow strugglers ZPC Kariba on Saturday.
Dynamos had been expected to collect their first set of maximum points against a team who had lost all four matches going into match-day 5. But there was to be no respite for Dembare as coach Lloyd Mutasa continues to struggle to find the winning combinations from a decidedly average crop.
The result from Nyamhunga Stadium leaves Kariba rooted at the basement, with Dynamos just one point above.
RESULTS
Saturday: Dynamos 0 ZPC Kariba 0, Harare City 2 Bulawayo Chiefs 0, Yadah 1 Triangle 2, Bulawayo City 0 Black Rhinos 1, Ngezi 1 Chicken Inn 0
Sunday: Highlanders 1 Nichrut 0, CAPS United 2 Herentals 0, Shabanie Mine 1 Mutare City 1, Chapungu 0 FC Platinum 2