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Harare Bureau
DYNAMOS chairman Kenny Mubaiwa said he was confident his team will beat How Mine in the quarter finals to progress to the next stage of the Mbada Diamonds Cup knock out tournament and remain on course to defend the silverware they have won for the past two seasons.
The Glamour Boys are the only team to win the country’s premier knockout tournament and Callisto Pasuwa the only coach to lift the Cup.
If they win the trophy this season, they will keep it for good. Following a draw conducted in the capital yesterday, the defending champions, who were seeded, were the second team to come out of Pot A and will meet the Bulawayo side at Rufaro next Sunday.
The winners of Match One to Match Four of the first round ties were put in a separate pool with winners of Match Five to Match Eight of the first round.
This saw Dynamos, Harare City, Highlanders and Caps United avoiding each other again as was the case in the first round. Another draw would be conducted for the semi-finals a week after the quarter-finals.
However, it was yesterday’s draw which saw some exciting matches on the cards. Mubaiwa said they were ready for the clash against How Mine that have perfected the art of beating the giants of the Premiership after defeating Bosso twice and DeMbare once.
The Glamour Boys won 3-0 at home before losing 1-0 at Luveve. However, it has not been rosy for Highlanders in the Bulawayo derby where they have lost 1-2 and 0-1 against How Mine in all the league encounters.
Mubaiwa believes DeMbare will rise to the occasion despite scrapping to a 1-0 win over lowly Tripple B on the neutral fields of Gibbo in the first round.
“We will definitely beat them and we want to urge our fans to come out in their numbers. How Mine does not trouble us. They just beat us once,” said Mubaiwa.
“We are not Highlanders and they are not a threat to us at all. It’s a fair draw. All the big teams were separated and each team has a chance. We also see people coming in their numbers because of the dollar per person gate charge.
“And we just want to urge the sponsors to be on the lookout for violence and crowd trouble because the tickets are very cheap”.
Mbada Diamonds reiterated that they will maintain gate charge of $1 for the cheapest tickets in the quarter-finals after it paid dividends in the first round with a huge turnout of fans at all the matches.
How Mine secretary James Zibhowa said it would be a David versus Goliath affair.
“We know their weaknesses. We have played them in Bulawayo and we won and here we lost,” said Zibhowa.
“They have the home advantage at Rufaro but this is a Cup game. It is David versus Goliath and we respect the defending champions but we are ready to compete against them”.
Highlanders also have an interesting fixture when they meet Buffaloes in what will be a back-to-back league and cup clash. The two teams are playing in a league match at Sakubva tomorrow and will be squaring off in the Mbada Diamonds Cup the following week at Mucheke.
Bosso vice-chairman Mgcini Mpofu, who represented his club, said they will give it their best shot.
“The interesting scenario is we would be meeting Buffaloes this weekend so this makes it more exciting. But we are not taking anything away from them.
“We will give it our best shot,” he said.
Buffaloes secretary Tendai Chikova said they will not allow another traditional giant to stand in their way after bowing out at the same stage against Caps United last year.
“It is a fair draw. It is also an advantage for us as we will play them in the league, so our technical team would be able to assess the strength and the weaknesses.
“We are hoping to reach the semi-finals. Last year, we lost to Caps United in the quarter-finals. Highlanders would be away from Barbourfields and we believe fans play a big part.
“It would be a balanced match. We will be 300km away from Mutare and some of our supporters will come and they (Highlanders) will also be 300km away from Bulawayo”.
Another seeded team Harare City, who would be the home team at Dulibadzimu against Hwange, said it was a fair draw for them.
Caps United, who were handed a cagey tie against Chicken Inn, were also optimistic that they will sail through.
The Green Machine official, Morton Donho, said they were ready to fight and regain their title as the undisputed Cup Kings in this country.
“We are ready to face any team. No team is small or big. We are not treating them with any special attention and we are ready for them,” he said.
Chicken Inn committee member Mlungisi Moyo said their fans should expect fireworks at Ascot in their date against Makepekepe.
“We are happy with the draw. We were expecting to play anyone. We always play all these teams in the league.
“Our fans should expect fireworks and we are going to carry over from what we did in Mandava.
“We have always given Caps United a torrid time and we are expecting a tough game but we should win.
“Last year we lost in the first round after we were drawn against Gunners but this time around we are hoping for a good run,” he said.
Draw
Caps United v Chicken Inn (Ascot, 12 October); Dynamos v How Mine (Rufaro, 13 October); Highlanders v Buffaloes (Mucheke, 13 October), Harare v Mucheke (Dulibadzimu, 12 October).
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu