DYNAMOS … (0) 1 WHAWHA … 0
BY MICHAEL MADYIRA
Substitute Richard Kawondera yesterday struck late to save a huffing and puffing Dynamos from a humiliating afternoon by WhaWha at Rufaro and help the Harare giants proceed to the quarterfinals of the Chibuku Super Cup. After losing to the prison wardens in a league match back in May at Ascot, DeMbare almost chocked on home turf, but Kawondera saved their face two minutes from fulltime with his first goal in blue.
It was also a huge psychological relief for Tonderai Ndiraya who began his tenure as Dynamos interim coach last weekend with a defeat to archrivals Highlanders in the ZNA Charity Shield final.
It had appeared Dynamos were marching to another Chibuku Cup embarrassment as they did last season at the same stage of the tournament at the hands of Black Rhinos.
But the day ended up brighter for Ndiraya who piled credit on his charges for saving his day. “I do not want to take credit for this win but it is for these boys. We missed a number of chances but in the end we won. It was tough for us but we did it, thanks to my boys,” said Ndiraya.
“There was pressure today [yesterday], but I am used to this. I have been in the Dynamos system for some time now and I have learnt from the coaches I have worked with before. I am still learning but I have to learn fast because at Dynamos immediate results are needed.”
WhaWha coach Lloyd Mutasa felt they were their own enemies by letting Dynamos strike at the death after a resilient showing for the better part of the match.
- Panashe Mutasa comes of age at Tenax FC
- Dynamos back to winning ways
- Ndiraya backs Antonio to impress in Belgium
- Artists struggling to grasp intellectual property rights
Keep Reading
“We had some good chances of our own but we failed to bury them. In the end we got punished and that is how football is like. We were defending well but the very moment when we marked loose, they punished us. It is disappointing because we were almost there,” said Mutasa.
WhaWha were the first on the offensive seven minutes into the game with what was their best goal chance of the afternoon, but Clifton Mwale failed to punish Dynamos goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva who had miscued a clearance. But the hosts entered into the groove twice on 15 minutes when Ocean Mushure’s long range shot was tipped over the bar by WhaWha goalkeeper Philip Nhete before Sydney Linyama’s header crashed against the woodwork off the resultant corner kick.
Five minutes later, Takesure Chinyama’s powerful drive from outside the box went just wide and the big striker broke loose a minute before halftime but failed to beat Nhete.
An error-prone Mukuruva almost gifted WhaWha the lead on the stroke of the breather when he spilled a high cross and had to thank Mwale who gave him time to recover by arriving just a second late to pounce. Three minutes after coming on for an out-of-sorts Walter Mukanga, Kawondera had his headed effort hit the upright post before failing to connect a Godknows Murwira low cross inside the box.
The last 10 minutes had Dynamos seizing control of the contest with Mutuma lively on the left flank but six minutes from time, the lanky forward narrowly shot off target a Chinyama feed.
Gift Kwaramba cleared off the goal line a Kawondera grounder after Chinyama had missed a Mutuma cross. The contest was sealed two minutes before fulltime as Kawondera headed in a cross by Mutuma.
