No miracles as DeMbare beat Yadah
By Eddie Chikamhi
Dynamos……..…. (1) 2
Yadah………………. 0
Ajax Cape Town chief scout Louis De Faria, who is on a scouting mission in Zimbabwe, should have left Rufaro with a great deal of satisfaction after one of his major targets, Ocean Mushure, turned on a fine show and scored a beauty as Dynamos completed a Castle Lager Premiership double over newboys Yadah yesterday.
Mushure’s goal, which came at the stroke of the half-time whistle, was probably the highlight of the match as the Glamour Boys stretched their purple patch to five wins on the trot.
Cameroonian Christian Epoupa Ntouba, who was also under surveillance from the South African scout, provided the assist for Mushure and was also on target with the insurance goal midway through the second half when he took advantage of a defensive lapse inside the Yadah penalty box.
De Faria, who has been in Zimbabwe since last week, is understood to have shortlisted three players at the conclusion of his mission yesterday.
Former Dynamos defender Blessing Moyo, who was recently released by Martzburg United and watched yesterday’s match at Rufaro, is also on the Urban Warriors radar as the Cape Town side seek to beat the August 31 transfer window deadline.
The respected scout was also in Bulawayo last week. He is scheduled to return to South Africa this morning where he will make his recommendations to the club.
Mushure, who has been tracked by clubs from South Africa following his impressive showing at the COSAFA Castle Cup in the North West Province last month, has been performing consistently for the Glamour Boys this season.
Having missed the previous match through suspension as DeMbare thrashed How Mine 6-0, the defender-cum-attacking midfielder returned with a bang as he was instrumental in the win yesterday, when he broke the ice in the 45th minute after the Glamour Boys had missed a number of scoring opportunities, which their early dominance merited.
DeMbare dominated the opening 45 minutes, with Mushure, Epoupa, Denver Mukamba and Cleopas Kapupurika pinning the visitors in their own half, but they could not convert the chances they created.
Yadah started off in a defensive mode and at times getting too physical, yet DeMbare still managed to find openings with Mushure just heading wide after rising high to meet with a cross from Epoupa after 15 minutes.
Mukamba twice got close, but he sent his effort just over the cross bar from outside the box and then sent a curling shot just wide of the upright with the goalkeeper Tafadzwa Dube making a desperate dive.
But it needed something special when the Harare giants defended two successive corner kicks and broke through the right flank with Kapupurika, who managed to find Epoupa inside the box.
The Cameroonian did well to square the ball back to Mushure who unleashed a booming left footer from a tight angle to beat goalkeeper Dube and land into the top corner.
DeMbare maintained the pressure in the Castle Lager Premiership race after their rivals in the top four had won their matches the previous day.
The Glamour Boys coach Lloyd Mutasa was thrilled with the positive run in the second half of the season which has seen them maintain third place in the race behind Chicken Inn and Ngezi Platinum.
DeMbare are only three points adrift of leaders Chicken Inn, who have 48 points, but the Harare giants have two games in hand.
“I think at this stage of the season we will be looking more at getting points than anything else and today we collected three points by scoring two and not conceding. I think it’s good for us.
“This group of players is doing better than what we did last year. We still maintain we would want to do better than yesterday, better than the number five that we were last season.
“I am happy with the supporters, they are with us and we hope we will get where we are supposed to get together as an institution.
“I am also happy for Ocean. I have always said he is an inspirational player. He has been giving leadership and for him scoring four goals in four matches, I think as a captain he is doing his part and is leading by example on the field of play,” said Mutasa.
Dynamos, however had to defend for their lives as Yadah took the game to them at the restart with midfielder Wellington Kamudyaruiwa, second half substitutes Morris Musiyakuvi and Munyaradzi Chiwara wrestling charge of the game.
DeMbare goalkeeper Tonderai Mateyaunga was twice called to make some brilliant saves to help the Harare giants maintain their lead and a clean sheet that has now stretched to four games.
Mateyaunga denied former DeMbare teammate Roderick Mutuma from close range in the 54th minute before punching out a ferocious long range strike from defender Willard Kalongonda.
But Cameroonian Epoupa deflated the newboys’ spirits when he poked home the second for DeMbare as Yadah continued to struggle in the bottom half of the table with their 10th defeat in 23 starts.
Their interim coach Thomas Ruzive, who began with defensive midfielder Milton Makopa upfront, said their game plan failed to work, but remained confident they will survive the chop at the end of the season.
“Our game plan was to contain them in the first half and then finish them off in the second. We were defending, but unfortunately, it did not work out as we would have wanted.
“But as you saw in the second half we managed to play our normal game.
“We have enough time to work on survival. There are still a lot more games to come so we can catch up and survive relegation. We don’t have any pressure,” said Ruzive.
Teams:
Dynamos: T. Mateyaunga, P. Makaha, P. Dube, L. Zvasiya, O. Mwerahari, T. Chipunza, G. Saunyama, C. Kapupurika, O. Mushure (E. Mandiranga, 87th minute),D. Mukamba (G. Mukambi, 72nd minute), C. Epoupa (Q. Kangadzi, 78th minute).
Yadah: T. Dube, W. Kalongonda, B. Chikwinya, J. Dzingai, D. Dauda, B. Mapfumo, W. Kamudyariwa, J. Sibanda (M. Chiwara, 46th minute), M. Makopa (M. Demera, 46th minute), L. Mavunga (M. Musiyakuvi, 68th minute), R. Mutuma. The Herald
