Denver Dazzles

DENVER DAZZLES NEWGrace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
Dynamos ……………………………..(0) 2
Harare City ……………………………(0) 1

DENVER MUKAMBA turned back the hands of time to the period when he won the Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year award with dazzling show that he spiced with a brilliant strike as Dynamos finally remembered how to win at Rufaro yesterday.

The slim midfielder had since his return to the Glamour Boys failed to woo the crowd and let alone inspire Dynamos in their fight for the championship title.

Instead Mukamba had been hogging the limelight for the wrong reasons as he battled with disciplinary problems that saw coach Lloyd Mutasa wield the axe on him along with other senior players — skipper Stephen Alimenda , Warriors first choice goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva and Dominic Mukandi.

But after mending bridges with Mutasa and upping his game during the week at training, the 2012 Soccer Star of the Year repaid his coach with a stunning opener that was laced with a beautiful build up to the goal.

Stand in captain Ocean Mushure then made sure of Dynamos’ dominance over Harare City in league meetings from the penalty spot after Jerry Chipangura had cancelled out Mukamba 57th minute wonder strike when he levelled terms in the 72nd minute.

But there was no doubting that the talking point was Mukamba’s goal and how he went about building up to that strike.

Yesterday’s victory helped Dynamos bring to a halt a run of six winless games that had seen them virtually fall out of the title reckoning.

Mukamba vowed more would come from him after breaking his goal duck for Dynamos following his return from an unsuccessful stint in the South African Premiership.

Dynamos had last won a league match on July 9 when they beat Border Strikers 2-0 at Rufaro before going on a dry spell where they could only manage five draws and a defeat against Border Strikers in the reverse tie in Beitbridge.

But yesterday they also completed a double over Moses Chunga’s men in style when Mukamba, who was used as a forward instead of his usual midfield position, in a move which quickly paid off, turned the hands of time with a special goal he manufactured coming from wide on the flank.

Mukamba teased his marker, jinxed past another opponent before letting loose a curling effort that beat Harare City goalkeeper Maxwell Nyamupangedengu.

Such goals used to be his specialty the last time he put on a DeMbare shirt and even became German coach Klaus Dieter Pagels’ choice for Warriors captain.

But Mukamba’s goal was cancelled in the 72nd minute by Harare City young forward Chipangura who beat a sprawled Mukuruva, following a mix up in the Dynamos defence area to squeeze the ball through.

However, resolute Dynamos, showing strong intent from the restart were unstoppable and 10 minutes later they got the winner through Ocean Mushure, who converted from the spot.

Referee Norman Matemera adjudged that Harare City skipper Arnold Chivheya had upended Bret Amidu in the box when he was going for the kill and awarded them a penalty which the left back executed well.

As Dynamos celebrated the sweet sense of victory again, Mukamba celebrated finding the target once more.

Mukamba said he had been trying to settle in his last five matches and insisted more would come from him.

“I am very happy to score my first goal after a long time. It was a Harare derby, it was not easy and for the last five matches I had not scored.

“So today I am very happy.

“From Monday the coach saw me working very hard at training and the coach said I must go and play as a striker and I managed to do that.

“As a player I am free to play any position and in the next match at Ngezi Platinum, if he (coach) gives me that position again, I will push as I did today.

“Expect more goals to come from me as we are left with 10 matches.

“In my first game against ZPC Kariba, I hit the post so I am happy to score at Rufaro after a long time,” Mukamba said.

Mukamba’s last goal at Rufaro was in November 2012 when he scored from a penalty as Dynamos beat Buffaloes 3-0 with former DeMbare forward Simba Nhivi getting a brace.

The former Bidvest Wits midfielder said he realised that Nyamupangedengu was off his line and took a crack at goal.

“I realised it after I had left my marker that the keeper was not on the line and I knew I had to chip and I would beat him.

“For the past five games I have been working on my performance. I have settled now and I should do more for the fans, who are happy today and I am also happy with the support,” said Mukamba.

Mutasa was happy with the victory and said it should be the team’s turning point.

“We told the youngsters this should be our turning point we have gone six matches without a win and it is something which is not normal for Dynamos and the youngsters had to dig deep into their reserves and we managed to come out victorious.

“Coming from six matches without a win, I think it is a great win and we can move on from there. It should be our turning point, I think we need consistency and probably this win can only motivate the youngsters going forwards,” said Mutasa.

Mutasa said his charges badly wanted a victory and they sweated for it.

“There was the Dynamos zeal of wanting to win, wanting to win every duel, wanting to go forward and wanting to beat Harare City for the second time,” he said.

The Glamour Boys beat Sunshine Boys 0-2 at the same venue.

Harare City coach Moses Chunga had hoped for a change of fortunes but he was left blaming his players from misfiring.

“If you don’t score you don’t win. We conceded soft goals and it’s one of the things we are working on. Setbacks are common in life, but it is how you pick yourself from that, now we are preparing for Bulawayo City.

“We really wanted to win it but unfortunately we didn’t score many goals, that is how we lost it. If you look at the guys they played with a lot of energy but I am not that disappointed,” said Chunga.

The former Dynamos coach, who introduced midfielder Raphael Manuvire in the second period after the player returned to the club, said the Warriors forward still needed some more conditioning

Teams

Dynamos: T. Mukuruva, G. Murwira, O. Mushure, O. Mwerahari, M. Machazana, T. Chipunza, S. Gorogodyo (T. Sadiki 65th minute), M. Mambare, M. Madhiri (S. Alimenda 46th minute) W. Mutasa (B. Amidu 75th minute),D. Mukamba.

Harare City: M. Nyamupangedengu, J. Tigere, H. Chapusha, A. Chivheya, T. Chimwemwe (T. Samanja 43rd minute), R. Chitiyo, L. Muyambo, E. Madhananga, M. Vengesai, H. Chimutimunzeve (R. Manuvire 64th minute), J. Chipangura.

 

Results

Saturday: Mutare City Rovers 2-1 Hwange, ZPC Kariba 1-0 Highlanders, How Mine 1-1 Chapungu

Yesterday: Dynamos 2-1 Harare City, Bulawayo City 3-1 Caps United, Border Strikers 2-0 Ngezi Platinum Stars, Triangle United 1-2 FC Platinum, Chicken Inn 1-0 Tsholotsho FC

Latest Log Table

P W D L F A GD Pts

FC Platinum 20 12 6 2 23 10 13 42

CAPS United 20 10 7 3 23 13 10 37

Highlanders 20 9 5 6 24 15 9 32

Dynamos 20 8 7 5 16 13 3 31

ZPC Kariba 20 8 7 5 16 13 3 31

Triangle United 20 8 6 6 17 17 0 30

How Mine 20 6 10 4 19 15 4 28

Bulawayo City 20 7 7 6 17 16 1 28

Chicken Inn 20 7 6 7 19 14 5 27

Harare City 20 7 5 8 21 17 4 26

Ngezi Platinum 20 7 5 8 18 21 -3 26

Chapungu 20 5 9 6 16 17 -1 24

Hwange 20 6 6 8 13 20 -7 24

Mutare City 20 5 5 10 16 30 -14 20

TsholotshoFC 20 3 4 13 13 23 -10 13

Border Strikers 20 4 1 15 8 25 -17 13

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