Online Reporter
Lawrence Moyo
THE fight for the 2026 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title is now down to just two teams – Scottland and Hardrock- after giants Dynamos fluffed two opportunities to keep up with the pacesetters inside five days.
A 1-1 draw with champions Scottland during the midweek and Sunday’s 0-1 defeat to Chicken Inn cost Dynamos five crucial points, leaving them 11 points behind the leaders with just seven matches remaining.
While it was coach Aristica Cioaba’s first league defeat at Dynamos, Sunday’s loss means they are praying for leaders and defending champions Scottland to lose four of their remaining seven matches while second-placed Hardrock lose three of their outstanding fixtures.
The Glamour Boys then have to win all their remaining games.
However, Scottland have lost just two of their 27 matches so far and Hardrock, who are the league’s highest scorers so far, have five defeats over the same period.
The maximum points Dynamos, who have managed just one win from their last five games, can get from the remaining seven matchdays is 67, which is just 10 points more than what Scottland have so far and 13 points above what Hardrock have now.
After a promising start in which Dynamos collected six points on a 6-0 aggregate against AGAMA and MWOS, DeMbare have managed just two goals in their last five matches against FC Platinum (1-0) and Scottland (1-1) while firing blanks in three of the fixtures against Simba Bhora (0-0), ZPC Kariba (0-0) and Chicken Inn (0-1).
Having exited the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup, the surrender in the title race means there will be no CAF football for Dynamos, at least until August 2028, yet the club’s midseason transfer activity was tailormade for the continental inter-club tournaments.
With this coming weekend set for the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup Round of 16, Dynamos have a full two weeks to prepare for the big Harare Derby set for Rufaro on September 5.
The date of the Harare Derby was subject to confirmation of Scottland’s CAF Champions League preliminary round, first leg tie with Eswatini champions, Nsingizini Hotspurs on September 6.
Scottland had initially booked the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana, for their home leg before CAF granted the National Sports Stadium a Category 3 approval following technical inspections.
The Zimbabwe champions have since been granted the right to host the match at the National Sports Stadium.
Club secretary-general Fortune Bgwoni confirmed the changes yesterday.
Dynamos’ Black August
- Exclusion from the 2026/27 CAF Confederation Cup over a contractual dispute with former coach, Saul Chaminuka.
- Elimination from the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup at the hands of Division One side, Hwange.
- All but eliminated from the 2026 Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title race.
- Three league games, ZERO wins and just one goal against ZPC Kariba, Scottland and Chicken Inn.
