TWO draws, two wins and one defeat is how Lloyd Mutasa’s record stands since he was reinstated as Dynamos coach after he was “sacked” for about three weeks as the club struggled in the first half of the season.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
His next assignment is a potentially explosive date with second-placed Ngezi Platinum at Rufaro this afternoon. Ngezi will be aiming to reduce the gap between them and log leaders FC Platinum to just three points after the Zvishavane miners’ goalless draw against CAPS United yesterday.
But Mutasa is a man on a mission, that is, to be the best team in the second half of the season as well as prove to the prophets of doom that this is not the worst group in the history of the club.
So today’s match is extremely important for Mutasa and his lads.
“Ngezi are number two on the log standings. They are a good side and you cannot take anything away from them,” Mutasa told StandardSport.
“However, we are Dynamos and these are the sort of matches where we stand up and be counted. We are a big team and we should prove that by getting a positive result in such matches.”
Since Mutasa’s return, Dynamos have lost to Triangle, beat Mutare City and Nichrut, as well as drawing against Chicken Inn and Shabanie Mine to sit 10th on the log.
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“My mission is to see the boys emerging as the best team in the second round of the season, which is our short-term target,” he said.
“I want to see the boys proving to the prophets of doom that they are not the worst team in the history of the club, neither do we want to go down as the worst coaches.
“We are giving a new shift and I hope this shift will be able to take us far.”
A defeat for DeMbare would be the first against Ngezi at home since the platinum miners were promoted into top-flight league.
Another factor that adds to the excitement to this fixture is the fact that Ngezi have a number of former Dynamos players, the reason why Mutasa believes it has been easy to motivate his side.
“Ngezi Platinum have an array of former Dynamos players, so it’s been easy to motivate the lads for such a match. I am sure the boys are ready to fight,” he said.
Tichaona Chipunza, Walter Mukanga, Liberty Chakoroma, Tichaona Mabvura and Kenneth Bulaji are all former Dynamos players. Mutasa is relishing the battle of wits against Tonderai Ndiraya, a coach who was part of his junior coaching staff during his first stint at Dynamos in 2011. Ngezi, on the other hand, have been going through a bad patch, losing four of their last five matches and only ended the run of bad results at home to Triangle last week.
They will be looking to begin life without top-scorer Terrence Dzvukamanja with a positive note, a player whose absence was felt when he left for the Cosafa tournament last month.
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League today’s fixtures:
Dynamos v Ngezi Platinum (Rufaro), Herentals v ZPC Kariba (National Sports Stadium), Triangle v Highlanders (Gibbo), Mutare City Rovers v Chicken Inn (Vengere).
