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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
TAIMON Mvula is down and apologetic.
The Dynamos goalkeeper was the villain in his team’s 1-1 draw against Black Rhinos in a Castle Lager Premiership football match at Vengere on Sunday.
The Glamour Boys were on their way to posting yet another impressive result that could have helped them restore the gap between them and leaders FC Platinum to six.
The Zvishavane miners had already stretched the advantage to eight points with their 2-1 win over Whawha at Ascot on Saturday.
And Dynamos had the pressure going into the encounter against Black Rhinos.
But they had done enough until virtually the last kick of the game.
The army team’s most impressive player Farai Banda, who is also the captain, made a foray on the left flank and delivered a cross which Mvula ordinarily should have dealt with decisively.
But, as he tried to parry the ball away, he scooped it into his own net to deal a huge blow to his team’s bid to challenge for the Premiership title.
The former Hwange goalkeeper broke down after the match and issued a passionate apology to his teammates and Dynamos supporters.
“I don’t know what really happened. I just saw the ball nestling in the nets and the Black Rhinos players celebrating. It’s a stab but I would like to apologise to my teammates and supporters for the blunder that was made.
“It was a judgemental error from my side, I am really sorry to my teammates and the rest of the guys associated with Dynamos including fans. We know where we are supposed to be and we know what we are aiming for,” said Mvula.
“The aim has always been to keep the gap at six points as we have managed to in the last three, four weeks.
“But, now we are eight points behind FC Platinum which is a huge gap given the point we are in the marathon. However, this is football and we can always fancy our chances of closing that gap.
“As a team we share the same feeling, we feel that we have a good chance of winning the league title although there are many other factors outside our control which could determine our destiny.
“It’s already FC Platinum’s to lose but this is football and we should just play consistently and get the results in every game.
“If we keep our focus, we should be able to win games. This is football, everything is possible.”
Mvula knows he was culpable although there was really little he could have done to get the ball away under the challenge of Rhinos players Tawanda Nyamandwe and Dennis Dauda.
He had tried to manage the game, here and there killing Black Rhinos’ momentum as Stanford “Stix” Mutizwa’s team camped in the Harare giants’ territory in search of an equaliser having fallen behind inside the opening minute.
And it was unfortunate for Mvula, arguably the best goalkeeper in the league to concede in such a manner.
Mvula has let in just 13 goals in 27 games and has kept 16 clean sheets, the best return in this league.
It was particularly painful for him to be breached in the last moments of a game he really wanted to notch another clean sheet for himself and the team.
In terms of individual brilliance, Mvula is one of the outstanding players this term but he says he will be disappointed if Dynamos finish the season without winning any silverware.
“I am happy with my individual performance of course, keeping out 16 clean sheets so far and playing every minute in the league.
“But, I came to Dynamos to win trophies. That is my primary aim. I will be happy if we manage to win the league title or the Chibuku Super Cup,” said Mvula.
His coach Tonderai Ndiraya is also convinced there is still time and opportunity for Dynamos to win the league title.
“There are still 21 points to play for. If it was two or three games left, I was probably going to say it’s over but there are still seven games to be played and we still have some chances,” said Ndiraya.
“We just have to go back and reorganise ourselves and move forward. (The Black Rhinos) match was always going to be difficult for us. I thought we had some good moments from which we were supposed to capitalise once we got the lead.”
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