DeMbare DeDrawboys

 

The Harare giants, choked by a strikeforce of considerable sterility and a midfield crying out for a leader to give it its playmaking dimension, stumbled to their fourth straight draw at Rufaro on Sunday.

The draw against newboys Triangle, which to thousands of DeMbare fans felt like two points dropped than a point won, continued a lifeless opening show for the champions who have struggled for inspiration in the opening weeks of the defence of their league title crown.

Scores of angry Dynamos fans converged outside the main entrance to the VIP Enclosure on Sunday, to express their disappointment with their team’s poor start to the season, amid claims by those who believe in the supernatural that their club had been cursed in a vicious power battle within its leadership.

It’s the first time, since the turn of the millennium, that the Glamour Boys have gone winless, in their first four league games, and while this was their first goalless draw of the new season, it continued a pattern in which the champions have struggled to impose themselves.

Triangle’s outspoken coach, Gishon Ntini, had boasted in the countdown to this match that there was very little in the current DeMbare side to strike fear into the hearts of opponents, including his Premiership newboys, who are a coalition of some battle-hardened journeymen from the top-flight league.

And, on the evidence of what happened at Rufaro on Sunday, where little Triangle didn’t need to weather a storm to come out of the lion’s den with a point, Ntini was probably proved right as DeMbare turned on a lacklustre performance short on quality and long on desperation.

Coach Callisto Pasuwa tried to freshen up his team by giving it a youthful outlook, especially its forwardline, but the young guns froze as the magnitude of the occasion, and the weight of the expectations of a support base that was losing its patience with every minute that flew by, overwhelmed them.

Young winger, Tichaona Mabvura, had impressed after being introduced as a second-half substitute against Club Athletic Bizertin, playing his natural game that thrives when he is taking on and eliminating defenders on the wide spaces of the flanks.

But, thrown into the starting XI on Sunday, Mabvura could not find his range, his first touch let him down on countless occasions and, when he had the ball, he could not find the magic needed to work his way past defenders and by the time he was sacrificed for goalkeeper Artwell Mukandi in the 68th minute, his contribution on the game had been negligible.

The way he struggled appeared to mirror the challenges that the other young forwards were facing and Cliff Sekete never turned up for the show, save for taking his place in the starting XI and apologising to his teammates and coaches for losing possession on a number of occasions.

The diminutive forward signed from Gunners had been one of the lively players, since the season opened, but on Sunday he appeared to be slipping into the same quagmire of mediocrity, where most of his teammates have been trapped, and never made an impact on either flank.

Patrick Kumbula has some goals under his belt, including one league goal against Shabanie at Maglass, and while he showed the drive to try and make a difference, he could only do so much, with very little service coming from the midfield, and he couldn’t add to his sole league goal.

Pasuwa played two strikers with the other, Allan Tavarwisa, the pick of the crop in a general poor team performance with his energetic runs at a defence, marshalled superbly by former DeMbare hardman William Mapfumo, giving the fans a window of hope that he could provide the breakthrough.

But when the moment arrived, for the stocky forward to make a difference, he came short and directed his headers, from a very good position, over as he showed his limitations when it comes to such aerial balls where timing and execution have to be perfect.

The midfield wasn’t helping matters either, short on adventure and the penetration that the forwards needed for a clean supply line, and as pressure built in the stands, as it became increasingly clear that DeMbare were struggling to break down the opponents, the players lost their way as desperation took over.

The statistics show that it’s the first time that Dynamos have failed to win a league match, in their opening four league games of the season, since the turn of the new millennium, something that now appears to be giving their opponents a spring in their step, as they come into Rufaro, knowing there is a point that can be stolen.

It’s in sharp contrast to last season when DeMbare won three of their opening four league games, en-route to winning the league championship, after beating Hardbody (3-0), Buffaloes (2-0) and Black Mambas (4-1).

The only loss, within that period, was handed by Monomotapa (0-1) at Rufaro.
Interestingly, DeMbare had four points, after four games, two years ago having lost their opening game against Kiglon (0-1), beaten FC Platinum (2-0), lost to Motor Action (0-2) and drawn against Hwange (0-0). Their fifth game in that season, just like now, was against Highlanders and it ended in a goalless draw and that DeMbare team also won the league championship after edging FC Platinum on goal difference.

In 2010, Dynamos were flying, in the first four games of the season, winning all the matches against Highlanders, CAPS United, Lengthens and Hwange but while the Glamour Boys finished with the same number of points as Motor Action, the Mighty Bulls won the league title on goal difference.

A year earlier, DeMbare had won two, drawn one and lost one of their opening four league matches and they eventually finished second, five points adrift of champions Gunners.

In 2007, when Dynamos ended a 10-year wait for the league championship, they took nine out of a possible 12 points from their first four league matches.
The Glamour Boys also had four points, as is the case now, after four games in 2006, when they finished in sixth place 19 points behind winners Highlanders, in 2003 when they finished in third place, three points behind winners Amazulu, in 2002, when they finished fifth, 28 points behind winners Bosso.

They also had four points, in the first four games in 2000, after losing 1-4 to Buffaloes, beating Highlanders 3-0, losing 1-2 to Amazulu and drawing 2-2 against Eiffel Flats.
That year, DeMbare ended in third place, 12 points behind league champions Bosso.