BY HENRY MHARA
DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya and his Caps United counterpart Darlington Dodo yesterday said they were happy with their teams’ push for a place in the quarterfinals of the Chibuku Super Cup.
The Harare soccer giants played to a 1-1 draw at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on Sunday, a result that kept DeMbare on top of Group 1 with eight points while the Green Machine are second with two points behind.
Harare City are third by virtue of an inferior goal difference against Caps, but are above ZPC Kariba by a single point. Herentals and Yadah are both on two points at the bottom of the log.
Dynamos and Caps are favourites to snatch the two spots and their coaches believe they have enough arsenal.
“The performance of the team today is very encouraging. These boys are raring to go. They are putting a lot of hard work in these games. They are working week-in-week-out, trying to correct as much mistakes which they made in previous games as much as possible. They are trying to gel and become one unit which is what I saw against Dynamos in terms of the defensive mechanism. We still have some grey areas in attacking areas which we need to correct,” Dodo said.
With games coming thick and fast, Dodo says the return of some of his key players from injury is a welcome relief.
One of the players back to fitness is Ian Nyoni, who was a second half substitute and could have had an assist on his return. His cross was headed over the bar by Ishmael Wadi when the scoreline was tied at 1-1.
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“I am happy with the recovery of Ian, Leeroy Mavunga is also coming back and anytime soon Phineas Bamusi will also be back so we will be a full complement very soon… which is what these games are demanding.”
On the other hand, Ndiraya said he is happy with the depth in his squad as he could chop and change his match day squads but still get the needed result.
On Sunday, he rested the likes of Tanaka Chidhobha and striker Albert Eonde with Jeansmith Mutudza and Newman Sianchali given an opportunity to showcase their prowess.
Club captain Patson Jaure slipped and hurt himself in the tunnel at halftime and could not continue with the game.
He was replaced by Stephen Appiah who went on to fit seamlessly into the backline.
“The substitution disturbed us a little, but I am happy Appiah came in, stabilised things at the back, as he continued from where the captain had left. It is quite difficult to make changes in defence, particularly at the heart of defence, but Appiah came in and stabilised things. We also had some players coming in, who hasn’t played. That really shows we have got some bit of depth in the squad,” Ndiraya said.
Dynamos play Harare City in their next match, while Caps face off with ZPC Kariba this weekend to conclude their first round of matches.
The second round begins next week with round robin clashes, with the top teams from the group progressing to the quarterfinals of this year’s edition of the Chibuku Super Cup.
Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymhara
