Despite the 1-0 defeat to FC Platinum on Sunday, Dynamos captain Ocean Mushure was encouraged by the team’s performance and believes that they can go on to win the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League title.
BY HENRY MHARA
A hotly-contested penalty kick, converted by Winstone Mhango, decided the match, as the Zvishavane side made it three successive league wins over the Harare giants.
Match day referee, Ruzive Ruzive adjudged that midfielder Gift Saunyama had handled inside the box trying to shield the ball from Marshall Mudehwe, but Mushure, while admitting the offence did occur, said it was outside the penalty area.
For Mushure, the defeat was a painful blow to the team, who had dominated the match, and could have easily won had they been more precise in front of goal.
“The game was okay, I thought we played brilliantly and above expectations. It’s unfortunate that it had to be decided by the match officials. It was a handball, but the incident happened outside the box. I was closer to the action than all the match officials and it was definitely outside the box,” Mushure said in his post-match analysis.
“But, like I said, we played well and had it not been that mistake from the referee, we could have drawn or even went on to win the match. Even after conceding the goal, which flattened our confidence, we still managed to play well and created the better chances.”
Mushure believes FC Platinum offered his side, on a rebuilding exercise, the sort of examination they wanted, and, according to him, they came out with flying colours.
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DeMbare, with a new-look squad blended with youth and experience, went into the match as underdogs against last season’s runners-up. But it was Dynamos, who showed a lot of verve, with new signings Lincoln Zvasiya, Saunyama, Quality Kangadzi and Emmanuel Mandiranga giving a good account of themselves.
They were the better side all afternoon, but for all the chances they created, the nearest they came to scoring was when Denver Mukamba’s shot ricocheted off the bar, while Mandiranga failed to score after going eyeball-to-eyeball with FC Platinum goalkeeper, Petros Mhari.
The performance left Mushure and most of the team’s supporters satisfied. A section of the supporters applauded the players, as they trudged off the pitch at the final whistle.
“The supporters shouldn’t worry about this defeat. Those who watched the match were satisfied and we expect to build from this performance when we play our next match,” Mushure said.
“I feel motivated by the supporters’ reaction at the final whistle. That [applause] in defeat rarely happens at Dynamos unless when you have played really well. It shows that they are behind us and it can only boost us to do better going forward. I must thank them for their effort today and we promise to do better.
Dynamos’ next match is away to Triangle at the weekend before hosting Black Rhinos.
