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Eddie Chikamhi
Senior Sports Reporter
Dynamos……………… 0
Cranborne Bullets…. 0
Harare giants Dynamos not only spurned a good opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the Castle Lager Premiership race but they also conspired to disappoint their fans with a tepid performance against Cranborne Bullets at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Dynamos yesterday turned up pale against a background of huge expectations from their faithful, having won two and drawn once in their opening three games.
Bullets on the other hand were resolute in pursuit of only their second point this season.
The army side looked the better team, though, and to ensure they achieved their objective they resorted to every trick in the book, including the anti-football delaying tactics to frustrate the giants, with goalkeeper Tatenda Makoni the main culprit.
However, his time-wasting antics earned him a booking moments before the final whistle.
DeMbare coach Herbert Maruwa was distraught.
“I think as a team we need to come up with some new strategies because some teams are coming with delaying tactics like you saw in this game. Most of the time the goalkeeper was down.
“Even last week (against Simba Bhora), it was the same. So most of these teams are coming with these delaying tactics and we need to come up with a new strategy in order for us to get a positive result,” said Maruwa.
But, from the bottom of his heart, Maruwa knows it wasn’t entirely up to the time wasting antics that Dynamos could not find their gear yesterday. DeMbare were just out of form and they did not do justice to their fans, who had come out in large numbers; probably their biggest crowd this season.
In the quest for more creativity, Maruwa yesterday made two changes to the team that featured in another dull goalless draw against Simba Bhora last week.
Fan favourite Denver Mukamba was given his first start this season, along with Tinashe Makanda.
But the duo, who started ahead of Arthur Musiyiwa and Nyasha Chintuli, could not deliver the needed impact. DeMbare were lifeless for the most part. They were devoid of imagination going forward, apart from a few eye-catching moves here and there by Mukamba in the second half.
Generally, there was no cohesion, with a lot of misplaced passes as Dynamos could not break down the Bullets defence marshalled by ZTN Man of the Match Christopher Charakupa and Nyasha Gurende.
At the end of the game, some agitated fans, who could not stomach the mediocrity they just witnessed, confronted their coach Maruwa to air their grievances, as they want to see improved performances in their next assignment, which is a difficult trip to Highlanders this coming Saturday.
Dynamos needed maximum points yesterday to go back to the top of the table and go into the battle of Zimbabwe with a psychological edge. They had led the race before the Easter weekend.
But they ended up in third place yesterday, probably with pressure also coming from the other side of the city after rivals CAPS United seized control of the race when they shot to the top of the table with a deserved 2-0 win over Black Rhinos on Good Friday.
Dynamos looked in a hurry from the first whistle yesterday but they had no strategy to unlock the opponents.
A good chance fell on youthful winger Tendai Matindife when an aerial ball landed right on his feet at the back post but he somehow shot weakly at the goalkeeper, unmarked inside the box, with only eight minutes played.
Cranborne Bullets also forced a fine save from Taimon Mvula early in the game from a freekick taken by impressive midfielder Tadiwa Chibunyu from the edge of the box.
Dynamos continued to probe and defender Elvis Moyo sent in a high cross from the left and Bullets goalkeeper Tatenda Makoni stretched full length to avert danger, with forward Emmanuel Paga lurking inside the box.
The Ghanaian forward came close soon after the restart when DeMbare made a quick transition into the Bullets penalty box but Paga hit the upright with a left-footed shot.
Cranborne Bullets were content playing the ball around and midfielders Chibunyu and Malvern Madzuka were quite a handful for the home team.
They however, lacked the momentum going into the final third and their coach Nesbert Saruchera was not entirely happy despite getting a priceless point from DeMbare. Bullets are yet to score a goal in 360 minutes of Premiership football this season.
In their first two matches, Bullets fell to Black Rhinos as well as FC Platinum on identical 1-0 score lines before drawing 0-0 with Chicken Inn.
“I think we did well to manage the game, especially in the second half. We managed to collect a point from the Harare giants so I think the progression is good. We are moving in the right direction.
“We just hope that in our next fixture we start scoring goals and collect maximum points,” said Saruchera.
Teams:
Dynamos: T. Mvula, E. Jalai, E. Moyo, F. Makarati, K. Moyo, D. Mudadi (E. Ziocha, 60th min), T. Shandirwa, D. Mukamba, T. Matindife (A. Musiyiwa, 60th min), E. Paga (E. Ilunga, 72nd min), T. Makanda (J. Bakare, 70th min)
Cranborne Bullets: T. Makoni, N. Kupara, M. Mushangwe, N. Gurende, C. Charakupa, A. Manokore, K. Chidonza, T. Chibunyu (V. Mhandu, 85th min), M. Madzuka, K. Mureremba (T. Meke, 59th min), B. Muzondiwa (H. Chimutimunzeve, 59th min).
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