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Augustine Hwata Senior Sports Reporter
Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Monomotapa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
DYNAMOS players used an unorthodox entry into the stadium as they headed to their dressing room before the game but still the defending champions failed to collect maximum points from this Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match against Monomotapa at Rufaro yesterday.
Normally teams that play at Rufaro use the main gate off the Western Stands to enter the stadium and then proceed to the dressing rooms but Dynamos yesterday chose to go against the norm and used another gate, usually for training day purposes.
The DeMbare team bus arrived at nearly 1:57pm and parked behind the northern goalpost where the players found the small gate into the field locked.
Efforts to locate the keys failed and the players, led by Thomas Magorimbo, then used the television camera stand mounted nearby to scale the perimeter fence and then make their way towards their technical area and to the dressing rooms.
Ostensibly Dynamos did not want to pass through the Monomotapa technical area, which was closer to the dressing rooms before going into the dressing rooms.
In the match yesterday Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa made eight changes to his starting line-up from the side that lost to Hwange last weekend but still the maximum points remained elusive for them.
Last week, the league champions fell to a 4-2 defeat at the Colliery but their rivals in the league race failed to take advantage of the slump as Dynamos remained at the top of the log and it was the same case after round 23 of the matches yesterday.
Pasuwa opted to start with goalkeeper Artwell Mukandi instead of George Chigova, while he relegated veteran Magorimbo for rookie Blessing Moyo, who is a product of the team’s juniors, for the right back position. The Dynamos coach also sidelined Sydney Linyama for the defensive linkman’s position as he fielded Stephen Alimenda who did a sterling job to thwart some of the Monomotapa raids while defender Patson Jaure also returned in place of Victor Kamhuka.
Oscar Machapa and Tichaona Mabvura, who started at the colliery, were not in the line-up while Washington Pakamisa was introduced from the bench in the second half as Benjamin Marere and Patrick Khumbula were picked ahead of him.
Only three players — Tawanda Muparati, Boban Ziruntusa and Gift Bello — reclaimed their starting positions.
However, Muparati failed to produce his usual top form yesterday while Ziruntusa was guilty of missing some scoring chances in the game before he was ejected.
But at the end the day, Dynamos fans were an unhappy lot and showed their anger when they rained missiles on the pitch on three occasions.
The DeMbare fans housed on the notorious Eastern Stand threw water bottles at second assistant referee Luckson Mhara as they questioned some of his decisions.
Even referee Batsirai Muchenje did not help matters either as he lacked firm control of the game although it will be wrong to crucify him for Dynamos’ failure to win the match as Monomotapa also showed determination to get at least a point.
Although he was disappointed with two points dropped, Pasuwa remained focused on their defence of the league title as he believes it’s just a temporary setback.
“We tried our best but we were not offensive enough in terms of going forward and hence we could not score any goals.
“There were a couple of guys who were injured and some were on suspensions but we also had two direct changes to the team based on performance.
“So from this match, I think we did not do much in terms of going forward from our attacking third and that’s were lost the plot,” said Pasuwa.
While Dynamos’ defence did not leak like a sieve that conceded four times last week, Pasuwa’s attack was toothless with Pakamisa, Clive Kawinga and Muparati all missing decent chances.
“We were not going in numbers when attacking and were also sitting back just like in the previous game. Monomotapa played very well in midfield which they congested and we could not penetrate them easily,” said Pasuwa.
Dynamos got the first real chance at goal in the ninth minute when Marere found space in the box but was too slow to shoot and allowed Hillary Migoniwa to block the effort for a corner.
Two minutes later, former Dynamos striker Allan Tavarwisa, who had his jersey torn during the match, nearly punished the Harare giants when he charged at goal before poking his effort wide while in the 20th minute Kawinga hit the upright post after creating a pocket space on the right channel.
While Pasuwa was disappointed with dropping two points, Monoz assistant coach Conrad Nyambabvu was rather pleased with the point gained and hope it will help them in their fight for survival.
“One point in the bag is better than nothing. We are fighting relegation and I think a point was good for us against a team like Dynamos who are the defending champions,” said Nyambabvu.
However, Nyambabvu believes that they could have won the game with a little bit of luck had they not been too much cautious in their approach.
“Our strategy for the game was to be cautious since we were playing one of the best teams in the league. Dynamos are not an easy team and I salute them but at least our boys managed to get a point from the encounter.
“Some of the teams fighting relegation might find it hard to get a point against Dynamos but at least we managed,” said the Monoz assistant coach.
Teams
Dynamos: A. Mukandi, B. Moyo, A. Mbara, P. Jaure, G. Bello, S. Alimenda, T. Muparati, B. Ziruntusa (C. Sekete 76th min), P. Khumbula (A. Gwatidzo 53rd min), C. Kawinga, B. Marere (W. Pakamisa 66th min)
Monomotapa: T. Zvaitwa, I. Lawe (C. Messi 70th min), C. Rukwanhi, M. Mangombe, C. Boroma (M. Nelson 56th min), R. Chitiyo, L. Sithole, H. Mugoniwa, L. Mhlanga, O. Mwerahari , A. Tavarwisa
Online Reporter