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Ocean Mushure

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS skipper Ocean Mushure, who has evolved into one of the best free-kick specialists in the domestic Premiership, says he aims to get better following a dream season with the Glamour Boys in which he scored half-a-dozen goals and made several assists from dead ball situations. Mushure scored his fifth goal from the set-piece last week to help Dynamos maintain their fight in the championship race with a 2-0 win over Bulawayo City at Barbourfields.

The utility man, who has often been deployed in a more attacking position by Lloyd Mutasa this year, has repaid his coach by scoring some crucial goals which have helped the Harare giants stay in the picture for this year’s title.

Mushure came handy again on Saturday when he sealed a fruitful sojourn to Bulawayo where the Glamour Boys returned home with maximum points in two games after beating Bantu Rovers 3-2 on Saturday.

He scored the third goal in that match to take his tally to nine goals this season, which makes him Dynamos’ second best scorer after Cameroonian forward Christian Joel Epoupa Ntouba.

But Lloyd Mutasa and the Dynamos family will probably look back at Mushure’s cultured left foot, which gave them wins against Ngezi Platinum Stars, Bulawayo City, Yadah, and the draw against Shabanie Mine, among the highlights of their season. Mushure capped it all with a goal direct from the corner kick in the 1-0 win over Black Rhinos at Rufaro.

“It’s an in-born thing. I wasn’t taught by anyone to take those free-kicks. It’s something that is in me. That is why at Dynamos they did not vote for me to take the free-kicks. “The surprising thing is that I didn’t do any special practice to perfect my skill. It’s something that is in me. I have been doing this since my primary school days with almost the same precision.

“It’s only now that I get to spare some minutes to practice free-kicks. Otherwise next season I will even be better,” said Mushure. Dynamos have punched above their weight this season to find themselves fighting for the championship. Their win over Bantu Rovers set them up in a two-horse race with log leaders FC Platinum who leads by two points going into the last match of the season.

FC Platinum eliminated Ngezi Platinum 2-1 at Mandava to take their tally to 69 points. Dynamos are on 67 points. “Bulawayo is our second home. Look, each time we play at Barbourfields we come out with at least a point. That has been the trend over the years and we were not surprised we won both matches against Bulawayo City and Bantu Rovers there last week. “I believe we have been working together as a team. We talked about our game and everyone has been doing his bit. But now the aim is to win our last match at home,” said Mushure.

Dynamos will wind up their campaign at home against 2015 champions Chicken Inn in a game that has the potential to go either way. The pressure is on them to win the game and then hope FC Platinum drop points against Chapungu at Ascot.

The winner of this year’s championship will feature in the Castle Challenge Cup against Chibuku Cup winners Harare City to bring the curtain down on this year’s league on December 2. The winners of the Cup will pocket $30 000 while the runners up will pocket $20 000.