Dynamos . . . . . . 0 Monomotapa . . .0
TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
DEFENDING champions Dynamos suffered another jolt yesterday after they were held to a draw by relegation-threatened Monomotapa in a Castle Lager Premiership tie at Rufaro.
Dynamos went into the match seeking redemption after they were handed a 4-2 drubbing by Hwange in a midweek league match at the Colliery. But, they failed to break down a resilient Monomotapa with their forwards missing a good number of chances.
With Highlanders and Harare City also being held to 1-1 draws by army side Buffaloes and Chicken Inn respectively, the three teams remain separated by a single point with Dynamos remaining on top with 42 points. It was Dynamos’ ninth draw of the campaign with only seven matches left before the curtain comes down on the soccer calendar.
Dynamos coach Kalisto Pasuwa said after the match: “We tried our best, but we were not offensive enough hence we couldn’t score. We were not attacking in numbers and we struggled in the final third. They (Monomotapa) packed their midfield and we failed to penetrate, but there are still seven games to go and we will go back to the drawing board. We need to score a lot of goals.”
Monomotapa assistant coach Conrad Nyambabvu said they were happy with a point. “At least a point gained is better than nothing. Our strategy was to be cautious because it’s not easy to play against Dynamos. We are confident of surviving relegation and the guys are raring to go,” he said.
Dynamos, who gave one of the juniors Blessing Moyo his first debut, started off brightly, but they struggled in the final third. Benjamin Marere had a good chance on 14 minutes, but shot meekly at the keeper.
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Monoz, however, wasted a good chance five minutes later after Ismael Lawe beat defender Augustine Mbara, but his cross into the danger zone found no takers.
Then Allen Tavarwisa missed a headed opportunity which could have seen Monomotapa take the lead on 20 minutes.
But, it was Clive Kawinga who was unlucky on 22 minutes after beating defender Last Sithole only for his well taken shot to crash against the upright post.
In the second half, Pasuwa made a number of changes with Washington Pakamisa, Abel Gwatidzo and Cliff Sekete being introduced for Patrick Khumbula, Benjamin Marere and Boban Bogere making way.
Monomotapa coach Biggie Zuze also responded by throwing in Nelson Meson and Carlos Messi for Lawe and Clive Boroma.
The substitutions, however, could not produce a goal and ugly scenes were witnessed again towards the end as emotions surpassed reason among the Dynamos fans as they rained missiles on to the pitch in protest over some of the decisions by giant referee Batsirai Muchenje.
