DeMbare edge Yadah

By The Standard and Newsday | Nov. 8, 2021 | 3 Min read

Midfielder Shadreck Nyahwa scored the only goal, heading in Albert Eonde’s cross on the 61st minute, but the home side were a pale shadow of their best.

BY HENRY MHARA

DYNAMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0)1

YADAH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0

IN a performance becoming something of a trademark for the Tonderai Ndiraya-coached Dynamos side, the Harare giants got the job done against Yadah at the National Sports Stadium yesterday to begin their Castle Lager Premier Soccer League campaign with a victory.

Midfielder Shadreck Nyahwa scored the only goal, heading in Albert Eonde’s cross on the 61st minute, but the home side were a pale shadow of their best.

In doing so, they stretched their unbeaten run to 12 in all competitions, including the 11 games they played in the Chibuku Super Cup where they have reached the semi-final stage.

Results aside, the DeMbare supporters must be worried about their team’s performance thus far, but Ndiraya is seemingly more concerned with substance over style.

They rode on their luck twice when their captain Patson Jaure escaped a sending-off.

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First, Jaure caught Godfree Mukambi on the thigh in the first half with a high-stud challenge, but the referee Munyaradzi Majoni inexplicably produced a yellow card.

Then late on, with Dynamos’ backs on the wall defending their slender lead, the defender appeared to have used his hand to block Kudakwashe Mangami’s goal-bound shot. Majoni ignored Yadah’s appeals and the decision infuriated the away bench. Yadah’s fitness trainer Noah Kapini was sent off in the melee.

The remonstrations continued at final whistle when the Yadah players and their technical team confronted the match officials who had to be escorted to the dressing room by the police.

Yadah coach Genesis Mangombe expressed dismay with the officiating, claiming that one of the assistant referees had told him that they were not going to win the match.

“We played according to our game plan, but the unfortunate part is that we failed to convert our chances. We are also crying about some dubious things that happened in the match. The match officials were closer to the situation and decided that the ball was not handled, but I thought it was a handball. If he was lenient, he was going to award a penalty.”

On the challenge on Mukambi, he said: “The referee was supposed to book him (Jaure). It was a red card challenge. That frustrated my bench because the assistant referee kept telling us that ‘you are not going to win this game and we want to show you’ so maybe it got to him (Kapini) and he failed to control his temper.”

Hard-tackling Mukambi should also have seen a red in the second half for a wild lunge on Tanaka Chidhobha when he was already on a yellow card. He escaped with a warning.

Ndiraya refused to comment on the two close calls by the referee, deciding to concentrate on his team’s performance.

Teams

Dynamos: T Mvula, E Jalai, P Jaure, F Makarati, J Selemani, T Chidhobha (J Mutudza, 81’), A Maliselo (A Eonde, 45’), A Mawadza (B Mushunje, 48’), G Murwira, S Nyahwa, B Antonio

Yadah: P Nyabunga, G Mangani (A Fredy, 60′), G Mukambi, L Mucheto, F Binzi (I Sadiki, 60′), K Mangami, T Shandirwa, N Mhlanga, B Chayambuka, B Kadamanja, J Mutembedza (T Mutyambizi, 73′)