adminThe Harare giants’ title defence took a knock on Sunday when they played a goalless draw against Black Rhinos at Rimuka while log leaders Harare City and CAPS were winning on the same weekend.
Bigboy Mawiwi’s surprise packages City now lead the way with 37 points, three better than Highlanders, who moved into second position courtesy of a 1-0 home victory over Hwange.
However, Murape yesterday said Dynamos, who have proved poor travellers of late, needed to get their act together as quickly as possible after losing considerable ground in the championship race.
The Harare giants are trailing Harare City by five points while CAPS United and Chicken Inn complete the top five, tied on 31 points apiece.
But it is City’s evolution that is rightly being celebrated as one of the success stories at this stage.
In only their second year in the top-flight, Mawiwi’s men have shown great promise and their 2-0 win over FC Platinum at the weekend only cemented their place at the top.
“City’s progress shows there is no longer anything as a small team in football. These so-called small teams are coming up fast and we are past that era when people would look at CAPS United, Dynamos and Highlanders only.
“The new teams have shown a great deal of organisation and they are investing a lot in the competition.
“They are putting in the money and buying some of the best players on the market. It only makes competition exciting and everyone will get to enjoy the game. So it’s a welcome challenge.
“Look at a team like CAPS United. People have been saying a lot about them even to the extent that they will struggle this year but when you see them today, to me, they are strong championship contenders.
“Harare City and CAPS United have been doing their job quietly. They have been working very hard with no one giving them the chance,” said Murape.
Crispen Dickson and Crybet Muvuti handed City their victory over FC Platinum while Moses Muchenje and Dominic Chungwa were the heroes for the Green Machine against Monomotapa.
Heritani Masuku scored the winner for Highlanders against Hwange as DeMbare toiled the whole afternoon for the goals that never came.
Dynamos missed the few chances that came their way at Rimuka to complete a miserable afternoon as both teams struggled to keep the ball under control on a bumpy pitch.
“I think we should have done better since we are saying we want to retain the championship this year. But we should take that point with a positive mind because this is a marathon.
“At the end of the day everyone, including Rhinos, is competing for results. So we don’t have to drop our heads and continue blaming ourselves.
“We are the defending champions and we will fight till the end of the season. I believe we have a very good team capable of winning the championship again. We just need to learn to grind results no matter how hard things are,” said Murape.
Mawiwi could not hide his joy at his team’s progress this year after notching 11 wins in 18 starts.
City were labelled draw specialists last year but they appear to have worked hard to develop their potential.
Mawiwi believes there are still battles to be won this year.
“I am happy with the way things are going because we are picking up points with some consistency, unlike last year.
“But I think it’s still a long way to go since there are 12 games to be played before the season ends. Anything can happen in-between because of the competition this year. So we just need to keep focused.
“Maybe after the next five games or so that’s when we will be able to see how the league is shaping up. At the moment we will continue working hard,” said Mawiwi.
He attributed his team’s success to the support they are getting from the club’s leadership led by Lesley “Azzurri” Gwindi, one of the brains behind DeMbare’s rise in 1998 to reach the final of the Champions League.
“It’s to do with good organisation. We are getting very good support from the executive and we are doing our bit on the field of play.
“But, most importantly, we are playing well because we don’t put ourselves under unnecessary pressure,” said Mawiwi.
Online Reporter