HIGHLANDERS coach Bongani Mafu was left a frustrated man again as his charges threw away a precious lead to eventually settle for a point against Dynamos in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League (PSL) match played before a capacity crowd at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday.
BY FORTUNE MBELE HIGHLANDERS . . . . . . . . (1) 1 DYNAMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(0)1
This meant for 18 matches or nine straight seasons, Highlanders have failed to beat Dynamos in a league match, the last victory having arrived at the same venue in 2006 when they won their last league title.
Takesure Chinyama equalised for Dynamos after Highlanders had gone into the lead in the first half with a 27th minute beautiful header skipper by Mthulisi Maphosa, who was returning from injury, but did not finish the match after a tackle by Ocean Mushure.
Highlanders lost the first round match 2-3 at Rufaro Stadium on June 28.
Chinyama back-heeled a Mushure cross to the near post, three minutes after the break to cancel a Maphosa header from an Obadiah Tarumbwa corner kick.
With the draw, DeMbare remained stuck on position four on the log table, but are now at par with third-placed How Mine on 29 points after the gold miners lost 0-2 to Hwange at the Colliery.
Highlanders also remained wedged on position nine with 22 points from 17 games and the Bulawayo giants have gone six matches without tasting victory and Mafu said he was frustrated as he felt Bosso should have collected maximum points from Dynamos.
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“I am frustrated. We should have won this one. We had a good strategy in the first half and had Dynamos where we wanted them, but we failed to beat them. We did not stick to our formation in the second half and my combination of Knox (Mutizwa) and Tarumbwa should just be ruthless and score goals. This was one of the best matches that we should have won,” Mafu said.
He said his task ahead is to create a team that is able to win games in front of their home crowd. His counterpart, David “Yogi” Mandigora, equally under pressure as his charges have gone for seven matches with only one win, is also exasperated by the draws that the defending champions have been playing.
“We did not play well in the first half. It’s a bit difficult now because we are having many draws. The problem is that we are not scoring. In the second half we were more direct than in the first half when we were a bit slow,” Mandigora said.
Dynamos secretary Webster Chikengezha handed in a letter to match commissioner Edson Nkau alleging biased officiating.
Instead, it is Dynamos who could now face the wrath of the PSL Disciplinary Committee after a section of their fans threw missiles at goalkeeper Njabulo Nyoni after a goal was disallowed, which caused a brief stoppage of the match. Before they came to Harare, Chikengezha’s boss Keni Mubaiwa had suggested they feared violence at Barbourfields, but it was Dynamos fans who threw missiles into the field of play.
The match was live on SuperSport.
“It was not about that goal, but we thought the officiating was poor in the first half. Our goalkeeper (Tatenda Mukuruva) was injured by a Highlanders player, but the referee did not blow the whistle and the goalkeeper had to throw the ball out. We wrote to the match commissioner to say the officiating was poor and in the second half it improved,” Chikengezha said.
Highlanders started off well, but their defence was a bit lethargic as they allowed Chinyama, Richard Kawondera, Masimba Mambare and Walter Mukanga to be first on the ball and the Dynamos goal was always coming as the Harare giants changed strategy. They brought in Kawondera and Mambare deep to control the midfield where Highlanders’ Maphosa and Nqobizitha Masuku were out of their game leaving Douglas Sibanda overworked.
As early as the 12th minute, Bosso could have got their first goal when Dynamos goalkeeper Mukuruva’s clearance bounced off Mutizwa, but he quickly recovered to collect the ball before it could cross the line.
Chinyama shone in the 21st minute unleashing a thunderbolt that swerved wide of the target after Bosso central defender Felix Chindungwe had controlled the ball onto his path.
Three minutes later, Mutizwa tried to place the ball at the far post, but Mukuruva made a save, punching the ball out for a corner. Chinyama was then penalised for an infringement on goalkeeper Nyoni in the 39th minute when he pounced on the Bosso shot stopper from behind and had the Dynamos’ fans in brief celebration for a goal.
Dynamos could have scored a second in the 55th minute after defender Teenage Hadebe miscued in front of Mukanga, but the latter blasted the ball off-target from inside the box while Mutizwa also watched his header off-target four minutes later from a Tarumbwa cross.
TEAMS
HIGHLANDERS: N Nyoni, W Chingodza, B Kangwa, T Hadebe, F Chindungwe, E Mudzingwa, D Sibanda, K Mutizwa, N Masuku, M Maphosa (K Nadolo 58’), O Tarumbwa (O Tafira 88’)
DYNAMOS: T Mukuruva, O Mushure, A Mbara, S Linyama, G Murirwa, O Mwerahari, W Mukanga, M Mambare, T Chinyama (T Kadyaridzire 87’), R Mutuma (K Bulaji 76’)
