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NewsDay

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Dynamos seek redemption

Sport
WITH the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship and the runners up position beyond reach, Dynamos have revised their season's target, with a top-four finish their new objective.

WITH the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League championship and the runners up position beyond reach, Dynamos have revised their season’s target, with a top-four finish their new objective.

BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA

To achieve that goal, they have to collect as many points as possible in their remaining four matches, starting with the Big Harare Derby against nemesis and log leaders Caps United set for the National Sports Stadium on Sunday.

After the Caps match, which is the pick of the weekend programme and whose results have far-reaching effects in terms of where the league title will eventually land, Dynamos play Mutare City and Triangle and will conclude their campaign against Chicken Inn.

The outcome of the weekend’s match might also have serious ramifications on the future of Dynamos coach, Lloyd Mutasa, who is under pressure to justify his position after a run of indifferent results and a win against Caps United, the team’s number one enemy, could go a long way in appeasing the Glamour Boys’ restless supporters.

Dynamos lie in an unfamiliar fifth place, with 39 points, two behind ZPC Kariba, and a massive 13 adrift of their Sunday opponents.

Second-placed FC Platinum are on 51 points, while Highlanders, in third position, are a point below.

While it looks all gloomy for the team and in particular for Mutasa and his technical bench, history will show that Dynamos are a team that usually grind out positive results in the face of adversity and team manager, Richard Chihoro yesterday said their failure this far had, if anything, given them the strength in the run-in.

Chihoro predicted a tough contest, as Caps United have been in top form in the past five matches, where they are unbeaten, having won four, including a 3-1 over Border Strikers in their last league match — a result that catapulted them to the summit of the league table.

Nevertheless, Chihoro insisted their struggles this season, which include a defeat to Caps United for the first time in seven years in the reverse fixture, would motivate them ahead of the Harare derby.

“Of course, it was disappointing to lose to Caps United, but to us, Sunday’s match is not mainly about revenge,” he said. “We need to finish in a respectable position. We have a good chance of finishing in the top four and beating Caps United will enhance our chances. I predict a balanced match. Caps United are in top form, they are leading the table, but we have also been playing well. Even in the last match, which Caps United won, we were on top of the situation, but they just took their chance. We drew against Hwange in our last match, but we played well and created a number of chances. We could have won the match.”

Not only did the Glamour Boys lose to Caps for the first time since 2009, they also lost back-to-back league clashes against Highlanders for the first time in 10 years.

So poor have Dynamos been this season that even FC Platinum, who had failed to beat the Harare giants since promotion to the top-flight league in 2011, somehow found a way to record back-to-back victories this year.

“We might be out of the championship race, but that has given us the hunger and motivation to do well in the remaining four matches. The team is in high spirits and we are looking forward to the match,” Chihoro said.

Dynamos have all their players available for selection and coach, Mutasa and his assistant, Murape Murape could be tempted to throw in Rodreck Mutuma, who has struggled to break into the team since reports of alcohol abuse emerged in their camp.

Mutuma has slipped down the pecking order, with Masimba Mambare and Jacob Muzokomba being trusted to lead the front line.

But after scoring a brace against a prison team at the weekend, in a friendly match, he could be given a run. The lanky striker always seems to thrive in this derby and would be almost certain to start the match.