Dynamos dehorn Mighty Bulls in Charity Shield

By Augustine Hwata

Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 2

Motor Action . . … . . . . . . . (1) 1

DYNAMOS have been looking for a new hero since Cuthbert Malajila left at the end of last season and, while it is early days yet, giant forward Takesure Chinyama has thrown his name into the hat.

The Glamour Boys certainly rode their luck as they overcame a jittery opening stage to retain the NetOne Charity Shield at the National Sports Stadium yesterday. Rodreck Mutuma gave his side the lead when he beat Motor Action goalkeeper Marlon Jani in the 16th minute.

Then powerful forward Chinyama, in his first competitive match at home since a very successful stint in Poland, grabbed the winner to crown a man-of-the-match performance. The big forward, who Dynamos have lined up as a replacement for Malajila, took home US$500.

The Mighty Bulls, who are still licking their wounds after crashing out of the Caf Confederations Cup, had pulled one back through Ishmael Lawe who headed in the 25th minute. The two sides were meeting in a repeat of last year’s final, which DeMbare won after beating Motor Action on penalties.

Yesterday’s match was almost cancelled after Dynamos’ principal sponsors, BancABC had clashed with the Premier Soccer League and NetOne over advertising space at the front of the team’s shirts.

Tournament sponsors, Netone had unveiled Kappa kits with their logo branded on the front for both, but BancABC challenged that and insisted that the space on Dynamos shirts was reserved for them.

A compromise was reached that saw Dynamos playing in their BancABC branded kit although they used the NetOne T-shirts for the warm up.

The uncertainty that had surrounded the game, coupled with the heavy rains that hit the southern parts of the capital before kick-off, could have forced a number of fans to stay away from the stadium.

But when the match got underway, Dynamos were the first to come off the blocks when Chinyama hit a low shot from the left that Jani saved in the third minute. Motor Action then came on an attack with Isaac Masame beating an offside trap but failed to direct his effort past DeMbare goalkeeper Washington Arubi a minute later.

With the Dynamos central defence of Patson Jaure and George Magariro appearing shaky, Lawe managed to find space into the box but was thwarted by an alert Arubi in the sixth minute in a face-to-face situation.

Chinyama cut a frustrated figure for Dynamos up-front as Mutuma failed to connect several chances after a number of good balls were whipped into the box by the former Poland-based striker.

 

Motor Action also had control in midfield where Ngoni Maviri and Isaac Masame overshadowed Dyna-mos’ veteran Murape Murape and Tawanda Muparati. Mutuma, who had been booed by some fans, atoned for his earlier misses when he got to the end of a loose ball at the edge of the box to fire a low shot that somehow beat Jani.

Jani, for all his experience, should take the blame for the goal as he appeared to have it covered but allowed the ball. Motor Action never gave up, with their best player on view Maviri exchanging passes with Protasho Kabwe who was attacking on the left. The former Highlanders player, Kabwe, then crossed into the box and Lawe headed past Arubi.

Dynamos were more composed in their defence after conceding the goal, with David Kutyauripo and Augustine Mbara making some overlapping runs into the Motor Action half.

Muparati could have given Dynamos the lead before the break but he curled his free-kick away from the target in the 41st minute while Motor Action left-back James Chitereki was forced to push an effort by Chinyama out in the 45th minute.

In the second half Dynamos continued to lead the search for another goal with Denver Mukamba’s well placed effort being cleared off the line by Passmore Bernard in the 48th minute. Maviri also had an effort saved by Arubi.

Chinyama, who had threatened to score all afternoon, was finally rewarded for his industry when he received the ball with his back to the goal but had the agility to turn around and struck a goal that proved to be the winner.

Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa later introduced their impact player Martin Vengesayi but had the setback of losing defence Kutyauripo due to an injury.

“I think our guys in defence were a bit jittery during the first 30 minutes. George Magariro and Partson Jaure were failing to communicate in central defence and they were second to the ball. But we improved later and at least the strikers managed to find the goals,” said Pasuwa.

Pasuwa believes he needs to work hard on his team before they engage Mozambican side Liga Maculumani in a Champions League tie on Saturday. While Pasuwa was pleased with laying his hands on the NetOne Charity Shield, Joey Antipas was left with more questions than answers to his team’s poor run.

“We created a handful of chances. We had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but we did not use the chance. We had a problem in the central defence the guys did not close in on Takesure Chinyama and Rodreck Mutuma. We now have to work on a new backline and overally we still have a lot of work to do all round,” said Antipas.

Antipas believes his preparations were affected by the administrative problems dogging his side where a number of players are yet to get their signing-on fees. “The preparations for the game were not up to scratch because of the problems we faced in player registration last week. We only got to know about our squad on Friday,” said Antipas.

Teams

Dynamos

W. Arubi, D. Kutyauripo (T. Magorimbo 65th min), A. Mbara, P. Jaure, G. Magariro, M. Makopa, R. Mutuma, T. Chinyama (D. Chafa 81st min), M. Murape (M. Vengesayi 70th min), D. Mukamba, T. Muparati

Motor Action: M. Jani, P. Benard, P. Kabwe (I. Madziwa 80th min), J. Chitereki, N. Maviri, G. Moyo, G. Phiri, C. Mutero, I. Lawe (M. Mburayi 84th min) J. Jam, I. Masame