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Harare Bureau
Black Rhinos …………………………………….. 0
Dynamos…………………………………………… 0DYNAMOS coach Callisto Pasuwa expressed his agony after watching his side struggle on a difficult turf against army side Black Rhinos as the champions continued with their poor away record yesterday.
The Harare giants missed a couple of chances earlier on as a combination of good defending and the poor state of the pitch made life difficult for the visitors on the afternoon.
DeMbare have been finding it difficult to win away of late following their defeats to Buffaloes and How Mine in their last two matches outside Harare and their coach Pasuwa said he had expected a change of fortune yesterday following last week’s plea to his players to change their attitude on away games.
Pasuwa said it needed extra effort from his players to win the match and he blamed the bumpy state of the pitch which made it difficult for the teams to play good football.
Both Dynamos and Rhinos players struggled to put the ball under control and for the better part of the afternoon, they resorted to pumping long balls upfront. This may explain why Rhinos have not conceded a goal since they moved to Rimuka. They drew 0-0 with Tripple B in their first game in Kadoma and then beat FC Platinum 2-0 before hosting Dynamos.
“These are the kinds of the pitches that we are using and we can do nothing about. So I am saying to the boys if we really want to win the championship then we would need to win matches even in such pitches.
“We also have to change the mindset and start getting positive results with these away games,” said Pasuwa.
Dynamos should now be feeling the pressure in defence of their title as they are now five points off the pace-setters in the championship race following log leaders Harare’s City’s 2-0 win over FC Platinum on Saturday which took Bigboy Mawiwi’s men to 37 points.
DeMbare dropped to third on the log table with 32 points as rivals Highlanders moved to second with a two point advantage.
Pasuwa said he was not happy with his charges’ performance as he felt they were losing ground whenever they played away.
Their striker Farai Mupasiri thought he had broken his goal drought in the 11th minute when he unleashed a ferocious right footer which rattled the underside of the cross bar before settling in but referee Rugare Kusosa correctly overruled the goal for offside.
Mupasiri should have cursed his misfortunes yesterday as he had a perfect opportunity to give DeMbare the winner in the 70th minute after breaking free inside the penalty box but his point blank shot was punched out for corner by goalkeeper Herbert Rusawo.
The Rhinos keeper was left badly exposed following a half-hearted clearance by his backline which allowed Allan Tavarwisa to pick out Mupasiri inside the box. Rusawo, who had a brilliant game between the posts, however, dived to his left and somehow managed to get his hand on the ball with the majority of the vociferous Dynamos fans already up on their feet.
Rhinos appeared comfortable doing most of the defending while hoping to get Dynamos on the break using pace from the flanks where Brighton Mugoni was always a handful. Dynamos, who missed a number of players through injuries and national team duty, started with a changed backline with Partson Jaure on rightback while newboy Sydney Linyama, who acquitted himself well, partnered Gift Bello at the heart of defence.
They were given a good opportunity just about a seven minutes into the game when the first assistant Allen Parehwa referred to an earlier incident which the referee appeared to have missed and then awarded them an indirect free kick inside the arc. The ball which had already been played was brought back from the Dynamos half and unfortunately Russell Madamombe’s strike was deflected out for corner.
The former Monomotapa man could have done better at the half hour mark when he got to the end of Mupasiri cross which appeared to have eluded everyone in the box but with no one to challenge him he shot wildly into the skies.
Madamombe however came close with another freekick in the 40th minute, with Rusawo producing a stunning save when he made a slight touch as the ball grazed the crossbar and went out for corner kick.
As prospects to get a goal looked remote in the second half, Jaure tried twice his luck with long range efforts which narrowly went wide.
Goalkeeper George Chigova also ventured forward when he took a freekick at the edge of the box but his ferocious shot came of the head of defender Brighton Chandisaita.
Rhinos saw little action going forward and coach Arthur Tutani said it was tactical as he hailed his charges for the draw. However, the army side felt undone eight minutes into the game when their appeal for a penalty were turned down after Brian Muzondiwa collapsed under challenge from Linyama inside the box. Instead the referee reached out for his front pocket and cautioned the Rhinos forward for diving.
Defender Bruce Homora also came close when he made a spirited run down the right channel but his rising shot sailed over the crossbar in the 21 minute.
“I am very happy and I am proud of the boys because they played according to instruction and manage to force a draw against such a good side as Dynamos said Tutani.
Online Reporter