Online Reporter
Lawrence Moyo
MWOS coach Lloyd “Samaita” Mutasa, who is hoping to extend an unbeaten start to the season, is wary of Dynamos when the two sides clash in a potentially explosive Castle Lager Premiership match at Ngoni Stadium on Easter Monday.
It will be a battle of Lloyds in Norton between Mutasa and Lloyd “Mablanyo”, who is battling to get Dynamos into the groove.
The two coaches have NOT met in the Premiership and their only meeting happened in the then Zifa Northern Region Division One, now NRSL, as Mutasa guided Flame Lilly to a 3-0 win over Douglas Warriors.
Mutasa has led Premiership newcomers, MWOS to an impressive start with four wins and two draws in opening six fixtures against Highlanders (1-0), Bikita Minerals (1-1), Yadah (2-0), FC Platinum (0-0), ZPC Kariba (1-0) and Herentals (1-0) to top the log standings with 14 points from a possible 18.
On the other hand, Dynamos have managed just six points from six matches and are smarting from back-to-back defeats against Manica Diamonds and Chicken Inn.
They will be desperate to avoid a third successive defeat and will hope to become the first team to beat MWOS this season.
MWOS finally got their Ngoni Stadium approved to stage PSL matches and doing so against the popular Harare giants is a dream for the club leadership as they are virtually guaranteed a full house.
Looking ahead to Monday’s match, Mutasa said the match will be tough and they will need to manage both the Dynamos attacks and expectations of the Ngoni Stadium crowd.
He said Dynamos will not be pushovers.
“The Norton community will definitely come in numbers and Dynamos themselves are crowd pullers and that means there is a good chance that Ngoni Stadium will be full. Being our first Premier League match at the venue, it will be nice if we start with a win.
“But one thing for sure is that the match will not be easy although we would want to maintain our unbeaten start to the season. We will do our best to keep the record intact and, more importantly, welcome the Norton community to Premier Soccer League football with a win.
“We have done well so far to avoid defeat, but we were also fortunate to watch Dynamos in action when they beat Simba Bhora at Rufaro. I was impressed by the way Dynamos played and they deservedly won the match. Coach Mablanyo has a very good project there and it is just a matter of time before they get it right and achieve deserved results.
“Their build-up play was impressive, and they clearly have the potential to beat any team in the league and for us, the bigger problem is that we are facing a Dynamos side wounded by two successive defeats.
“That makes them very dangerous, and we have to be at our best if we are going to get anything out of the game.” The match will be the first against Dynamos for Mutasa in the post-Covid era have been both a player and coach at the Harare giants.
That is bound to put Mutasa under pressure to make a statement.
He, however, believes he has gained enough experience to be able to withstand the pressure that is expected to be more on him compared to the rest of the MWOS camp.
“I think I have been in the business for too long and now have enough experience to deal with the issue of pressure. I have had to handle a lot more pressure previously and this cannot be counted among the top pressure moments for me as a coach.
“I have a fairly good record against Dynamos as a coach, but this is the first time I am facing them in the Premier League since the Covid break. So, it has been a while, but I believe we will be ready for the challenge on Monday.”
Mutasa believes the match against Dynamos will be MWOS against the Premiership.
“We are one of just two teams without defeat after six games and everyone would want us to lose the match, so in reality we will be facing more than Dynamos in our next game. Already, every match in the Premier League is very tough.
“We will treat Dynamos with the respect they deserve and fight till the end if we are to prevail and remain unbeaten.”
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