MAPEZA ACCEPTS POINT

Sports Reporter

NORMAN Mapeza said it was a point gained for his FC Platinum side despite their seven-game winning run being halted by Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

The champions had scored 16 goals in the seven matches but fired blanks yesterday.

It was a poor game, there was no quality in the build-ups and most of the passes went astray.

“It’s a point gained for us, we never created opportunities, Dynamos never had opportunities, there’s nothing to talk about football.

“Those soft free kicks, which were given to Dynamos, maybe, were the turning points for the game but the rest, there’s nothing to talk about.

“When the referee does that, what can I say, you saw it, you saw what was happening, so, what do you want me to say?

“For us, it’s a massive point gained, another clean sheet, we move forward, we now shift concentration to our game against ZPC.

“I think we missed Gift Bello because he is the one who usually initiates everything from there, so we missed him so much, not taking anything from those guys, but he’s the one who sometimes does everything for us.

“I’m not taking anything from these guys today, they played well but you know as a coach I know the calibre we have.”

He added:

“Anyway, at the end of the day you get frustrated when the officials are like this, players and supporters get frustrated.

“It’s bad, we don’t want to be frustrated by match officials and if they do it becomes a problem.

“To be honest, in the 21 games we’ve played, I think this was the first time I was really a bit furious.”

Dynamos coach, Tonderai Ndiraya, said the point could be the starting point on their road to recovery.

“We are coming from a defeat, I think it’s a good recovery but if you want to take it from another angle, it’s two points dropped.

“We wanted to close the gap between us and our rivals but that did not happen so I’m a little bit disappointed.

“Not entirely disappointed because of the manner we played today.

“We were playing a good side, a formidable side, it’s not a secret that they had gone on a match-winning streak and for us to stop that run and compete the way we did, I think it’s quite commendable.

“From that angle, I want to give credit to the players for the shift that they put in today.

“It was a good shift, I thought we also created better chances than them.

“But, again, we continue to mourn about the chances we create and fail to convert so, yeah, I’m a bit disappointed from that end.”

He however had a different opinion about the officiating.

“It was a big game and I would also want to give credit to the match officials today, the way they handled the match.

“This is my own opinion, I thought this was a big game, lots of pressure and the way they performed today, I think we must give credit when they do well rather than just criticising them all the time.

“I thought they put in a very good shift today, the refereeing was balanced in my own opinion.

“I’m disappointed that we’ve gone for four matches now without scoring, it’s a bit worrying because if you want to win matches you have to score.”