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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
CAPS United . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O
Black Rhinos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . O
CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe said there were a lot of positives from his team’s performance yesterday after the 10-men Green Machine defended for their lives to settle for the share of the spoils in a goalless Castle Lager Premiership football match against Black Rhinos at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Makepekepe, who are still recovering from one of their worst spells after going on a run of seven straight losses recently, have now collected four points in their last two outings.
They beat Harare City last week but they could not reproduce the same form yesterday. Instead, they could have left the stadium feeling hard done following the second half red card decision on defender Marshall Machazane.
Makepekepe also had a loud penalty appeal turned down late on after young forward Diego Makurumidze was impeded inside the box, with the goal at his mercy.
Chitembwe, however, was still satisfied with the point, as Makepekepe survived a second half onslaught from the army side.
“I thought the performance was okay and the result, considering the circumstances in which the match penned out, is deserved.
“I only talk of the overall performance, not what could have and what couldn’t have happened.
“So I thought the overall performance, as far as I’m concerned, was quite decent. Going forward we need to work on all concepts. In football, you work on all concepts and this is what we just have to do.
“And I’m happy we seem to be having the right kind of team we want. So, going forward I am sure we stand a good chance,” said Chitembwe.
The Green Machine, who are apparently short on personnel, yesterday threw into the fray their latest signing Emmanuel Mandiranga.
The former Dynamos and Harare City man was involved in most of the play. Mandiranga headed just over the bar as Makepekepe came closer, against the run of play, with the last piece of action.
Earlier on, Rhinos defender Collen Kwaramba made a timely interception to keep out William Manondo following a low cross from the left flank by Phenias Bamusi, with 33 minutes played.
But Philip Gweva could have punished Makepekepe just after the hour mark following a defensive blunder by centre back Lincoln Mangayira. The forward took his time in the box but could not beat goalkeeper Tonderai Mateyaunga from close range.
The Green Machine were forced into the back foot for most of the second half as Rhinos were coming at them from all angles.
They finished the match one man short after defender Machazane, who had been introduced in the 56th minute, was shown a straight red card just 10 minutes later, for foul play on Rhinos’ striker Eli Illunga.
The army side bombarded the Green Machine goal but their efforts came to naught because of lack of precision. CAPS United fought hard in the final minutes to keep the scores level.
The Green Machine remained on 13th place in the log standings with 21 points while Rhinos moved into seventh with 30 points from 20 games.
Rhinos coach Herbert “Jompano’’ Maruwa rued the missed scoring opportunities in the second half.
“We started slowly but when we came back in the second half, we were organised and created a lot of chances. We even created scoring opportunities before they got that red card.
“We created four or five clear chances that we were supposed to bury. But overall I’m happy. In every game there’s a win, draw or loss. So today we settled for a draw.
“We need to go back and make sure we improve the finishing aspect of the game,” said Maruwa..
Teams
CAPS United: T. Mateyaunga, K. Bulaji, V. Musarurwa, L. Mangayira (M. Machazane, 56th min), B. Musaka, D. Chafa, P. Bamusi, D. Makurumidze, J. Tulani, W. Manondo, E. Mandiranga
Black Rhinos: B. Mwandimutsira, P. Makaha (V. Mhandu (81st min), F. Banda, D. Dauda, G. Madhake, C. Kwaramba, A. Phiri, A. Gahadzikwa (B. Christopher, 53rd min), K. Madera (P. Mlanzi, 53rd min), P. Gwevha (S. Mudzengerere, 53rd min), E. Illunga
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter