Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
H-Metro Editor
IT was a classic − the greatest game in the Castle Lager Premiership in 21 years since CAPS United and Highlanders went into a seven-goal slugfest at the National Sports Stadium.
It didn’t produce the seven goals which Bosso and Makepeke scored on that memorable afternoon but that won’t dilute the quality of the showdown between Dynamos and Scottland at Rufaro on Saturday.
This was entertainment, the kind of stuff which fans demand when they pay their hard-earned cash, and the poetry which guarantees patronage from the stands.
Yes, DeMbare won as they powered to their biggest victory in a season which was turning into a disaster before Zambian coach Kelvin Kaindu arrived to try and save their sinking ship.
But, one gets a feeling that more than the Dynamos win, this was a day when football won.
It was a throwback to the PSL’s beautiful past when its games were played before big and colourful fans and DeMbare were the dominant bull in the kraal.
It was a throwback to the golden years when the PSL had talented stars, supermen who, when it mattered most, would always come up with a piece of magic which would define a contest.
For years, we had watched as the domestic PSL died a painful and slow death – abandoned by the fans who used to be its loyal clients and supporters, snubbed by its best local players and deserted by foreigners.
But, something changed this season and the arrival of newboys Scottland, in particular, has been a big game-changer.
The PSL has dozens of foreigners playing their trade in its trenches, the foreign coaches have also come back and one of them, Kaindu, was in the DeMbare dugout on Saturday.
The good money was on Scottland, who were on a seven-match winning run, to make it eight and, at worst, get a point.
But, with DeMbare sucking energy from their biggest crowd at Rufaro in years, it quickly dawned on many that this would not be an easy ride for Tonderai Ndiraya and his men.
The only surprise was that they actually went into the break in the lead but the story quickly changed as DeMbare scored three times in the second half to seal a 3-2 comeback win. That second half produced four goals, including a contender for the Goal Of The Season, which was scored by Denver Mukamba against the team he was playing for last season.
The volley, hit first time with his left foot, was a superb product of art, a vintage painting by an artist born with the gift that makes good footballers but who, for one reason or another, never really touched the heavens which his potential deserved.
Denver’s goal will be replayed again and again in the coming few days either as a source of joy for some Dynamos fans who will be reliving the moment their hearts exploded with ecstasy or as a model by coaches showing their players how to hit a perfect volley.
In a way, this felt like a trip back to July 2004 when the PSL provided us with its greatest game since the turn of the millennium.
That was the Bosso/Makepekepe showdown which ended 4-3 in favour of the visitors at the giant stadium. It was a game which had everything one could ask for, including a goal by goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini It was also the only game which Charles Mhlauri and his Immortals, who were part of the Class of 2004, lost in their 30 league matches that season.
That should give Ndiraya some hope because he knows that losing a game doesn’t mean the end of a quest to win the championship given that CAPS went on to be champions in 2004.
For Dynamos, this is the kind of result on which a foundation of success can be built.
What an afternoon for the domestic Premiership.
What a day for Denver.
