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Ricky Zililo in BULAWAYO
Chicken Inn………………………..(2) 2
Dynamos…………………………..(1) 2
DEFENDING champions Dynamos kept themselves in the race for the championship as they picked up a vital point after surviving a storming Chicken Inn first half display on yet another incident-filled afternoon at Barbourfields yesterday. Joey Antipas’ men took a quick-fire lead but lost the plot when Dynamos pulled one back through their skipper Tawanda Muparati in the 26th minute from a free-kick with a beautiful goal that left Chicken Inn goalkeeper Liberty Chirava rooted to his feet.
The league’s leading top goal scorer Tendai Ndoro shot past diving Dynamos goalie George Chigova in the first minute after some intelligent play involving the Clement Matawu and Mkhokheli Dube for his 18th goal of the season.
The Gamecocks extended their lead 12 minutes later through Brian Mbiriri from a freekick although Chigova should be blamed for the second goal as the effort, which took a slight deflection from the wall, saw the ball sneaking under his grasp.
The Harare giants who are seeking their third consecutive Premiership title fought back and after Muparati had reduced the arrears, Cliff Sekete’s 54th minute goal secured them a point.
Dynamos’ coach Callisto Pasuwa said they would fight to the last whistle.
“We lacked concentration in the first half and we paid dearly for that. I am happy that we managed to re-group and finished the game stronger.
“This is a vital point for us in our championship quest and we are going to fight until the last whistle,” said Pasuwa.
Dynamos’ defender Oscar Machapa will miss his team’s last match of the season against Black Mambas after being shown a red card, when he had already been substituted, for abusive language directed at the referee.
The match had its fair share of drama, as has become the case when Dynamos come to town, with the cry babies playing this game under protest because they were not happy with the appointment of Hwange referee Hardly Ndazi.
The Harare giants gave match commissioner Ndumiso Gumede their protest letter, which was written by club secretary-general Webster Chikengezha, just before kick-off.
“We hereby register our complaint against the match officials :
· Mr H Ndazi has handled all our previous matches unfairly. We have registered our complaint but no action has been taken.
· The match commissioner Mr N Gumede is the vice-president of Zifa and we feel that he has influenced the appointment of match officials.
“Our feeling is that this match has been fixed. We are, therefore, playing this game under protest.”
Gumede said anarchy in football would not be allowed and allowing teams to choose referees of their choice would lead to chaos in the sport.
“We can’t condone such behaviour by Dynamos. What if every team in the league were to say there are referees that they don’t want, honestly, who is going to officiate our football matches?” asked Gumede.
He said like other match assessors he also gets appointments from Patrick Marumbi who is based in Mutare.
Chicken Inn should have killed the game in the first half but wasted numerous chances.
Kudakwashe Mahachi got to the end of a perfect pass from Dube but the ginger-haired midfielder hurried his shot on the edge of the box and sent his effort to the terraces six minutes into the game.
A minute later, Dynamos’ striker Simba Sithole tried to fool the referee as he missed the ball trying to take a shot at goal inside the box and went down but then appealed for a penalty but, to his credit, the referee did not fall for the trick.
Three minutes later Stephen Alimenda shot wide after being sent through by Muparati.
Seeing that Chicken Inn were dominating in midfield where they had Matawu, Danny Phiri, Mahachi, Thabani Goredema and Dube,
Dynamos’ coach Pasuwa pulled out an ineffective Milton Makopa in the 20th minute and introduced Sekete whose arrival changed the complexion of the game.
Sekete should have equalised for the Harare giants four minutes before half-time when he got to the end of a Thomas Magorimbo cross but failed to direct his header on target as DeMbare finished the first stanza stronger.
The defending champions showed character as they continued to press Chicken Inn with Muparati tearing open the Gamecocks’ midfield and were dully rewarded in the 54th minute when Sekete’s dipping shot hit the box hit the cross bar and landed into the back of the net.
Four minutes after coming on to the field, Patrick Khumbula, who had replaced Simba Sithole in the 73rd minute, turned and shot in the box but an alert Chirava tipped the ball for a corner.
As Dynamos continued piling pressure on the hosts in search of a winner, their raids were thwarted by some unruly spectators who were sitting at the Soweto Bay as they kept throwing balls onto the field of play once DeMbare ventured forward.
Chirava made a stunning save in the 89th minute when he went airborne to tip a Muparati dipping shot for a corner but in the process injured himself.
“This was a thriller, we had our chances they had theirs but I think we should have won the game,” said Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas.
Teams
Chicken Inn: Liberty Chirava, Brian Mbiriri, Charles Mutero, Felix Chindungwe, Moses Jackson, Danny Phiri, Mkhokheli Dube (Tendai Mukambi, 78th minute), Clemence Matawu, Thabani Goredema (Canaan Nkomo, 64th minute), Kudakwashe Mahachi, Tendai Ndoro
Dynamos: George Chigova, Thomas Magorimbo, Augustine Mbara, Sydney Linyama, Patson Jaure, Stephen Alimenda, Milton Makopa (Cliff Sekete, 20th minute), Oscar Machapa (Tichaona Mabvura, 64th minute), Tawanda Muparati, Washington Pakamisa, Simba Sithole (Patrick Khumbula, 73rd minute)
Online Reporter