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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa believes the Glamour Boys, who had a difficult time before brushing aside a resistant Tripple B in their opening match of the Mbada Diamonds Cup, are on course for their third successive title following the hard-fought first round victory at Gibbo on Sunday.
The Harare giants are chasing the milestone to light up their 50th anniversary celebrations this year after winning the last two editions. They remain the only team to lay their hands on the silverware since its inauguration in 2011 and their dominance this year is facing a stiff challenge from old enemies Highlanders, bitter city rivals CAPS United, emerging force Harare City and unpredictable Chicken Inn who all progressed to the quarter-finals. Army side Buffaloes, How Mine and Hwange also made it from the first round.
According to the tournament rules, Dynamos will keep the trophy for good if they are successful again this year. While he was clearly delighted and relieved with their win over a stubborn Tripple B, Pasuwa said he is now looking forward to the next round as they hope to lift their game.
DeMbare needed a late second half strike from substitute Clive Kawinga to go through to the last eight.
“We will take each game as it comes. I think you have seen how difficult it was for us to go through to the quarter-finals but I am glad we made it. In cup games what is important is to go to the next round,” said Pasuwa.
But most importantly for Pasuwa, their next league assignment to Hwange is now the point of focus as they travel to the Colliery to face the coal-miners tomorrow. DeMbare returned from Triangle yesterday and are expected to fly out of the capital tomorrow morning.
This will be one of a series of difficult away assignments as the defending champions look to wrap up their campaign for this year in the next eight weeks.
DeMbare who enjoyed playing most of their first round league matches at Rufaro have a tricky road to negotiate as they will also need to travel to Highlanders, Chicken Inn, FC Platinum and Triangle with only three matches to be played at their Rufaro fortress.
The champions will be forced to make changes tomorrow as they will be without key defender Partson Jaure and Russel Madamombe who are sitting on three yellow cards. Pasuwa acknowledged the scale of the task in their hands and also expressed his worry over their poor away form this year.
“It’s a difficult schedule but we will have to rotate these players. We discussed this and even told the players to prepare themselves since we will be travelling a lot in our last games.
“As a team we have to soldier on because that’s the way the fixtures are arranged. The good thing is that our health bill at the moment is okay,” said Pasuwa.
“Our points (on the log table) are close and I think it’s one of those important games that we really need to win. Every point is important at this stage and if we want to be champions we have to play like champions.
“We talked about it that away from home we are really struggling to get results and everyone now understands what Is required. We are working hard on that area and we should see some improvement,” he added.
Dynamos are currently perched at top of the table with 41 points but they face tough competition this year from Harare City who are only two points off the pace with Highlanders and FC Platinum also coming into the frame.
Meanwhile, the draw for the Mbada Diamonds Cup quarter-finals has been set for this Friday with the last round of eight matches being pencilled for the weekend of October 12-13.
Seven of the eight teams that were seeded in the initial round progressed during the weekend matches.
FC Platinum, losing semi-finalists last year were the one of the top eight teams when the draw for this year competition was held.
But Lloyd Mutasa’s men were sent packing following a 0-1 defeat by Hwange at the Colliery with the result being the major surprise of the first round fixtures which seemed to go according to script.
Now the last teams will know the identity of their next opponents on Friday.
Mbada Diamonds Cup organising chairman Tafadzwa Chiremba, however, said they were impressed with the way the 2013 edition had got off to a flying start with fans embracing the $1 gate charges to turn up in large numbers.
“It was a colourful and promising start. We hope the teams won’t lose their touch in the next round. People came in their numbers and we had people driving from Victoria Falls to come and watch the match in Hwange.
“This proves the tournament is growing and now on everyone’s calender.
“The dollar concept paid some dividends. Even the smaller venues had many people attending,” Chiremba said.
Chiremba said security was visible at all matches while the fans also got a chance to secure branded Mbada Diamonds T-shirts.
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