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Mukudzei Chingwere in ZVISHAVANE
Shabanie Mine….. (0) (1)
Dynamos………… (1) (1)

FOR the Dynamos family, this felt like two points lost than a point gained and the pain and anger on Lloyd Mutasa’s face at the end of this Castle Lager Premiership battle at Maglas told the whole story. Handed the chance to open a three-point lead at the top of the table by a favourable sequence of results on Wednesday, DeMbare, as they have often done in the last few weeks, crumbled under the weight of pressure.

Instead, they left this mining town with just a point, instead of three, and it could be a defining result in this championship race. Skipper Ocean Mushure, the Glamour Boys’ brightest light in the absence of the league’s leading scorer Christian Epoupa Ntouba, had given the visitors the lead through a trademark free-kick in the fifth minute.

A bit of homework on the opponent would have informed Shabanie that in the absence of Ntouba, Dynamos’ potency rested in the left boot of their skipper Mushure, especially from dead balls. And, the hosts were punished by a player whose star has been shining brightly all season. But moments before the final whistle, Maglas erupted when the Mupasiri brothers, Farai and Wilson, combined for the equaliser.

In a round of fixtures in which their title rivals FC Platinum and Chicken Inn caught a cold, a victory would have seen Dynamos move three points clear at the summit of the log. But just as the celebrations were about to start, friend-turned-foe Farai Mupasiri swung in a cross which was headed home by his younger brother Wilson with four minutes to play.

Lloyd Mutasa, however, refused to be drowned in the sorrows of the share of spoils saying there remains a big window of hope for them. DeMbare are on 53 points, one better than Ngezi Platinum and FC Platinum.

“For me this is two points dropped, we had wanted to take maximum points in this match but we allowed what I call a soft goal to go in. But at the end of the day, I do not want to take anything away from the boys, they did very well and I am happy with their performance. We are not under pressure, we are still on top of the log standings and if we talk about pressure at the position we are in what will those who are below us say. We have not won here for a very long time and we came here determined to break that jinx but unfortunately it was never to be,’’ said Mutasa.

The Glamour Boys, who last won a match against Shabanie Mine at Maglas in 2006 came into the duel determined to break the jinx. Former DeMbare defender William Mapfumo conceded a free-kick in the fifth minute when he fouled Tawanda Macheka at the edge of box and Mushure made no mistake with a curling effort that beat Petros Moyo hands down.

The Chinda Boys were refusing to be bullied in front of their vociferous fans, a swift counter attack four minutes after they had conceded was halted by an offside call on Tinashe Mupumha who had exposed Mushure’s defensive frailties. Moyo was called upon to block a goal-bound Masimba Mambare header.

Mapfumo then tested goalkeeper Tonderai Mateyaunga with a powerful header. On the stroke of half-time Mambare had a chance to double his team’s lead but his effort flashed across the face of goal. And, after the breather, Shabanie fought for their point and were rewarded when substitute Wilson Mupasiri scored for them late in the match.

“We started slowly and we were unfortunate to concede early in the game,’’ said Shabanie coach Takesure Chiragwi.

“We had told our players that they (Dynamos) have very good free-kick takers and we needed to avoid conceding free-kicks closer to our goal, unfortunately we did. “In the field of play we played better than them and I think we could have collected maximum points at the end of the day. The guys refused to throw in the towel after they had conceded early and I am very happy with our fighting spirit.

“Before the game I told the guys not to be intimidated by Dynamos because we are in the same league, their response was very encouraging and I am confident with this kind of performance we can survive relegation.’