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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
A POOR run of five defeats on the bounce for CAPS United and a storm that almost claimed Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya’s job lay the foundation for the build-up of the long-awaited Harare Derby set for this coming Sunday at the National Sports Stadium.
The clash will signal the end of the first half of the 2021/2022 Castle Lager Premiership football season in which both giants have had to endure their shares of on-and-off-the-field dramas. But most recently is the tragic circumstances that CAPS United find themselves in after losing five straight games against Triangle, Cranborne Bullets, FC Platinum, Chicken Inn and Bulawayo Chiefs.
What is even worse is that they have not scored even a single goal in their last four outings despite the quality and experience in their side.
It has become public knowledge that there is more to CAPS United’s heartbreaking performances than meets the eye. There is discontent in their camp over issues to do with remuneration and it looks like the players have not been able to fully commit themselves.
The unfortunate issues once again played out on Saturday as players demanded that they get their allowances to cushion their families before taking the trip to Bulawayo.
Since the money was not readily available and most of the banks were closed, they had to delay their departure by several hours as the club’s chiefs had to run around to secure the money for the players.
Quite predictably, CAPS United, who of late have become one of the worst run football clubs in the Premiership, lost the game 0-2 to Bulawayo Chiefs. The skewed travelling could also have affected the players because of the obvious fatigue associated with such a long journey.
But one of the biggest interested constituencies — the supporters — have had to endure the pain. On Sunday, they stood with their team and vouched for them until the last whistle.
They are likely to carry the same spirit into the Harare Derby. CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe said the fans deserved more from their team.
“I don’t hold any grudges when the fans demand results because this is the nature of the club — to win matches. We are a big club and the status is massive. “So, the fans expect excellence each time you go out there. There is need for us to respect the feelings of the fans each time we go onto the field of play,” he said.
Sunday’s defeat to Bulawayo Chiefs was CAPS United’s fifth consecutive loss and they are fast closing in on their worst losing streak of seven straight losses between July and August 2012. Makepekepe are currently toying with the possibility of having to fight relegation if no remedies are found. They sit in an unfamiliar 12th position with 17 points, one above the team occupying the last relegation slot, with one round of play before the mid-season break.
Dynamos, on the other hand, have enjoyed a promising campaign. They have grinded results under Ndiraya and are in second place in the championship race with 31 points, one behind leaders Chicken Inn. But their camp was rocked by internal conflicts last week which saw Ndiraya getting suspended for the entire working week. Win-less in their last three outings, DeMbare need a big act in the Harare Derby to restore confidence among the fans and stakeholders.
“It’s a very crucial match not just for CAPS United but for us,” said Ndiraya.
“There are bragging rights on the offing for both teams. It’s quite difficult, you can’t underestimate CAPS United especially when getting into a derby. They always harness all their energies and efforts to make sure that they get a result against us.
“So it’s a difficult match. Despite all that is happening in their camp, rest assured that you will see a very different CAPS United next weekend and be assured that the game will be very exciting and hopefully we can turn up in that game.
“So we have a whole week to prepare for that game and hopefully we can push ourselves and grind a result,” said Ndiraya.
Dynamos could have gone into the derby on a high but they spurned a good opportunity on Sunday to climb back top of the table in the dull and lifeless goalless draw against Herentals at the National Sports Stadium.
This was the second time that the Harare giants had failed to take advantage of the slip-up by their rivals Chicken Inn at the top of the table. At some point last month, DeMbare could have stretched their lead at the top to four points after Chicken Inn were held to a goalless draw by Herentals.
DeMbare responded to that prospect in the worst possible manner after missing a penalty in the last 10 minutes against minnows Bulawayo City and then conceding a last gap goal in the 1-1 home draw. They found themselves in almost similar circumstances on Sunday after Chicken Inn had played a goalless draw against Yadah on Saturday. DeMbare were trailing Chicken Inn by two points ahead of the Herentals clash.
A win could have given them a one-point advantage at the top. But the Glamour Boys turned up off colour on Sunday and did not show the hunger to win the match.
“I think it came with a bit of added pressure on the team. Of course, that’s the difficult part of playing after your rivals have played.
“It now depends on how you are going to manage the game and clearly we didn’t perform the way that we wanted. But these things happen in football. If you look at most results across the board it was the same story but we had a chance to go back to the top and unfortunately we couldn’t do that.
“So it’s something which we must learn to do. We must always learn to get results, especially when we play after our rivals but unfortunately that couldn’t happen.
“Hopefully going forward if we find ourselves in the same situation we can take it, be strong and grind a result,” said Ndiraya.
Castle Lager Premiership Fixtures
Friday: Yadah v Bulawayo Chiefs (NSS)
Saturday: Herentals v ZPC Kariba (NSS), Bulawayo City v Black Rhinos (Barbourfields), Cranborne Bullets v FC Platinum (Sakubva)
Sunday: CAPS Utd v Dynamos (NSS), Highlanders v Harare City (Barbourfields), Manica Diamonds v Tenax (Sakubva), Triangle v Chicken Inn (Gibbo), Whawha v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Ascot)
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter