Veronica Gwaze, Onward Gangata, Innocent Kurira
HARDROCK are not leaving anything to chance in their Premiership title run following a late 1-0 victory over Dynamos at Rufaro Stadium yesterday, courtesy of a Masimba Mambare added-time goal.
Now five points clear at the summit, the victory makes life difficult for Scottland, who are now trailing by five points, but with a game in hand.
Even if they win midweek against Chicken Inn, Scottland will still be two points behind the Kwekwe-based side, who have now gone eight games unbeaten.
Coming into yesterday’s match, Hardrock preferred some caution, choosing to stick rigidly to their plan as they dictated the proceedings.
The turning point was Frank Agyemang’s second yellow card, which left DeMbare one man short, but even after that, Hardrock coach Kelvin Kaindu still labelled the game a tough one.
The match had started at pace, Hardrock taking the front seat with deft touches towards goal from the onset as they sent a strong signal to the opponent.
Building from the back, Dynamos grew in confidence, increasing intensity as they tried to hit the visitors on the break. Abel Gwatidzo floated in a good cross from the left, which found no taker.
Two near misses from both ends breathed confidence into Dynamos, who stepped up to match Hardrock for pace and possession.
It was not long before Wisdom Mutasa bossed the midfield and won possession, before locating Leroy Mavunga on the wing.
Mavunga crossed well for Agyemang, whose header was on target, but Martin Mapisa rose to the occasion.
Dynamos’ high line made it easy to break whenever Hardrock’s lethal forwards Prince Dube and Washington Navaya got possession.
In the 13th minute, Lennox Mucheto found Dube in space, but the Warriors striker fired over the bar.
In the 23rd minute, Hardrock’s Misheck Ngwenya fouled Ben Daouda Sidibe at the edge of the box. Gwatidzo took the resulting free-kick wide.
Hardrock showed brilliance with one-touch play from midfield to goal before Thubelihle Mavuso’s effort was saved by Finia Idrissou Nfor at the 25th-minute mark.
In the 37th minute, Dynamos were reduced to 10 men when Agyemang received a second yellow card for aggressively hacking down Tinotenda Muringai at the edge of the 18-yard box.
Dube took the free-kick straight at Nfor.
In the second half, it was one-way traffic, but Hardrock could not get the winner until the death.
And it had to take two former Dynamos players, Mambare and Muringai, to floor the giants.
Hardrock coach Kaindu said it was a game that needed his charges to stay mentally alert.
“This was a difficult game, further when it got to playing against 10 men for more than 45 minutes,” he said.
“We had to adjust, make tactical changes, although we still couldn’t get a goal, but I am happy that eventually we forced something.
“They defended well, they were organised and disciplined with the block, so we could only hope for a miracle.”
Dynamos assistant coach Lawrence Mawulorm paid tribute to his side.
“We had played well for the greater part of the game; tactically we had done everything well to make sure we stay in the game, but fatigue crept in at the end,” he said.
“Numerically, they were ahead, so we had to focus on our tactics, but we go back and reflect, then bounce back stronger.”
At Ascot, FC Hunters survived a late scare from TelOne to hold on to a 3-2 win and secure a precious victory that guarantees their safety in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) for another season.
The PSL debutants had got off to a flying start after two quick goals from Terrence Dzvukamanja and Delight Gandari in the first half.
Substitute Bruno Mtigo halved the deficit early in the second half to give the hosts some hope, but Tadiwanashe Huni restored Hunters’ two-goal cushion with a beautiful long-range shot.
TelOne mounted intense pressure late in the second half, but fell short, with Jerry Chipangura scoring their second.
The win secures FC Hunters’ stay in the top flight with 37 points, in a dream season where they are also in the semi-finals of the Chibuku Super Cup and the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup.
FC Hunters coach Nesbert Saruchera was delighted that his side had met their target.
“We wanted this game more as we just were desperate to reach our target,” he said.
“As you know, we are a young team from Division One and our target was to secure our stay so that we continue to give more youngsters game time in the league.”
TelOne coach Joel Luphahla said: “This was very disappointing for us as a team. We thought we had worked really hard to get a draw away from home in our last game, but coming home to lose makes our situation even more difficult.”
At Luveve Stadium, Bulawayo Chiefs did themselves no favours in their fight to preserve their Castle Lager Premier Soccer League status after suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Ngezi Platinum Stars.
McDonald Eddisone opened the scoring with a 16th-minute header before Marvellous Mukumba struck at the death to seal victory for the visitors and leave the Twitter Kings empty-handed.
The defeat leaves Chiefs just one place above the relegation zone, piling pressure on the Bulawayo side as the season enters its decisive stage.
Bulawayo Chiefs coach John Nyikadzino said it was a painful defeat.
“We got a number of chances which we should have converted, but we failed to do that. It’s a bad result, really. Looking at where we are on the log, it is very disappointing. We created more chances than Ngezi, but this is water under the bridge — we move to the next game,” he said.
Ngezi Platinum coach Kumbirai Mutiwekuziva was happy with the victory on the road.
“A very good win away from home,” he said.
“They are a good team, though they are fighting relegation. Winning away from home fits into our target for the season, which is finishing in the top four.”
At Mandava Stadium, Thabo Senong’s unbeaten run in the league came to an end when CAPS United stunned FC Platinum 2-0.
Davison Marowa and Junior Bunjira were on target.
MWOS look like they may have put the final nail in Triangle’s struggles with their 3-0 win.
Arthur Banda, Innocent Zambezi and Sergio Murambiwa were on target.
In other matches played yesterday, Simba Bhora rose to the occasion against in-form Herentals to edge them 2-1 at Wadzanai Stadium.
At Nyamhunga Stadium, Agama gave themselves a fighting chance to avoid relegation after stunning ZPC Kariba 1-0.
