CHAOS reigned supreme at Rufaro Stadium yesterday, when police officers and Dynamos supporters were involved in running battles at halftime, reducing the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League clash between the beleaguered Harare football giants and Yadah FC into a boozers match.
BY HENRY MHARA DYNAMOS………….. (0) 1 YADAH FC………….. (1) 1
The game, especially the second half, never really got going with multiple stoppages caused by the missile-throwing hooligans and Dynamos is likely to get sanctioned for the embarrassing behaviour exhibited by a section of their supporters.
Yadah finished the match with 10 men after their captain, Jimmy Dzingai was shown a straight red card by referee, Munyaradzi Majoni on the 68th minute for foolishly throwing a missile back into the crowd as hooliganism reared its ugly head.
Trouble started as Majoni blew his whistle to signal halftime, when an overzealous police officer unexpectedly discharged a teargas canister into the Vietnam stand, a section which houses Dynamos supporters.
The home fans, already frustrated as their side was trailing to an early Leeroy Mavhunga 4th minute goal, reacted angrily to the provocation and confronted the officers. The mob swelled, and vented their anger on a police truck, pelting it with missiles.
In response, the police officers, who appeared overwhelmed by the situation, detonated another canister into the restless crowd, who scurried for cover, with some rushing onto the field of play for safety.
The melee resulted in a 15-minute delay in the resumption of the second half. Normalcy only returned after the police truck was forced to drive out of the stadium.
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The halftime chaos looked to have galvanised the DeMbare supporters, who rallied behind their team when the second half finally resumed.
Lloyd Mutasa’s men, outplayed in the first half, responded well as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser.
It was the troublesome Mavhunga though who, against the run of play, almost doubled his team’s advantage, but his shot from inside the box was blocked by Dynamos goalkeeper, Tonderai Mateyaunga. Dynamos continued to pile on the pressure, and Yadah goalkeeper, Steven Chimusoro tried to slow down things by falling down unmarked.
This got the DeMbare supporters even more agitated and they threw more missiles into the field, resulting in another five-minute stoppage.
As the missiles continued to rain, Dzingai stupidly threw back one into the crowd, leaving the referee with no option, but to show him his marching orders.
Things got worse for the visitors moments later, when Kuda Kumwala, often vilified by his side’s supporters, levelled matters with a bullet shot that went through Chimusoro’s hands into the nets.
More stoppages characterised the rest of the match, as Yadah players feasted on the home supporters’ naivety by employing delaying tactics, which they responded to by throwing more missiles into the field of play.
Dynamos, going through their worst possible start to the season, went behind through a Mavhunga super goal.
The winger collected the ball just outside his box and charged into the DeMbare box, leaving captain Ocean Mushure and Godfrey Mukambi for dead in the process, before feeding the ball to Simba Sithole, who laid it back for him to smash home first time.
Sithole almost doubled the lead, but couldn’t execute his overhead kick well.
Dynamos had their chances too in the first half, with Valentine Kadonzvo’s shot in the opening minute stopped well by Chimusoro, while Kumwala failed to connect a cross from the lively winger.
The former Harare City man also had a good chance to win it in optional time, but dragged his shot wide, as the two teams shared the spoils in this incident-filled match. With three points in the bag, this is the worst Dynamos start ever at this stage of the season.
The last time that they had almost a similar bad start was in 2002, when they collected four points from a possible 18. That year, they survived relegation on the last day of the season.
Teams
Dynamos: T Mateyaunga, B Moyo, O Mushure, G Mukambi, J Tigere, M Machazane, O Mwerahari (G Saunyama, 58’), R Manuvire (K Dhemere, 53’), K Kumwala, Q Kangadze, V Kadonzvo Yadah: S Chimusoro, W Kalongonda, W Chakanyuka, J Dzingai, B Madzokere, B Mapfumo, M Makopa (A Makopa, 69’), M Musiyakuvi (J Sibanda, 79’), L Mavhunga (L Murape, 90’), R Matema, S Sithole
