DEMBARE FIGHT ON

Bruce Chikuni

Dynamos ……………………(2) 2

Harare City……………….. (1) 1

FANS were left convinced that miracles exist after witnessing Dynamos’ victory over Harare City in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

DeMbare, somehow, scraped a win from yet another average showing.

However, at this stage of the campaign, it’s results that matter and the Glamour Boys, to their credit, stuck to their assignment.

It also has to be considered that they were playing carrying a weight of pressure after champions FC Platinum extended the lead to nine points on Saturday.

Harare City keeper, Tawanda Dendera, was found wanting in the 14th minute, after misjudging a cross. The ball fell straight into the path of Ralph Kawondera, who made no mistake from close range.

Kawondera almost doubled the lead with a glancing header in the 23th minute, but Dendera was equal to the task this time.

The Dynamos defence was then caught ball watching as Donald Mudadi connected after some poor marking to beat Dynamos goalie, Taimon Mvula, in the 26th minute, to restore parity.

Emmanuel Paga then restored DeMbare’s lead, after another lapse in concentration from Taurai Mangwiro’s men, eight minutes before the break.

Dynamos coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, attributed his team’s poor display to the pressure that comes with playing after their rivals had set the pace.

Before the game, Dynamos were nine points behind log leaders, FC Platinum, who had beaten Manica Diamonds 2-0 on Saturday.

“It’s always difficult to play after your rivals have played,” said Ndiraya. “It tends to put a lot of pressure on the team. It was a must-win game for us and I’m glad we got the three points.

“We didn’t play beautiful soccer because some players failed to handle the pressure quite well, and that’s the reason we were not settled.”

He hailed Harare City for giving them a run for their money and credited his defence for a resilient show.

Mangwiro blamed his leaky defence.

He said it’s too early to throw in the towel despite being four points away from safety with eight matches to play.

“It’s the manner in which we are conceding. The first one was a howler and the second we were not there to clear our lines,” he said.

“We are messing it up by leaking goals, and the unfortunate part is that we will be in control of the match.

“We are not going to despair but to keep working hard and putting our focus on the next match.”