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Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
CHAPUNGU coach John Nyikadzino believes his men have a mountain to climb in their bid to beat Dynamos and qualify for the Chibuku Super Cup final. The Gweru airmen brewed a shocker when they eliminated Castle Lager Premiership leaders Chicken Inn in the quarter-finals at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.

Now, they have to beat the Glamour Boys, on the weekend of October 3-4, for a place in the final.

“We will not fool ourselves that because we beat Chicken Inn, the log leaders, so it is going to be the same with Dynamos,” said Nyikadzino.

“Dynamos are bigger than Chicken Inn, who are just on top of the log, and we cannot compare these two teams.

“They (Dynamos) have won the league for the past four years and this match would be tough for us, especially playing Dynamos at this stage of the season, because they are always a dangerous side.

“We were able to beat Chicken Inn because we remained focused and didn’t give it much thought that everyone was not giving us a chance against the log leaders.

“We faced Chicken Inn at the right time, when we have just picked our form, and everything is going on well for us.

“My players showed character and determination and we wanted to win this Cup tie more than Chicken Inn and, after they equalised, we felt we should just hold on and see what happens in the penalty shoot-out.”

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya said they were targeting winning the Chibuku Super Cup.

“We still believe. We want to go all the way to the final. We are quite confident, we want to get this Cup,” said Ndiraya, whose team needed a dramatic penalty shoot-out to eliminate FC Platinum.

“We will continue working hard, we will remain focused so that we get to the end. We want to get to the final and possibly win the Cup.

“Chapungu are quite a physical side, quite a difficult opponent. I watched them play Chicken Inn, they knocked out the league leaders and it was not an easy afternoon for Chicken Inn.

“So we expect the same when we play them but we will remain focused, we will sit down and plan for them and do the best we can so that we can get to the final.”

Harare City, who have had a largely subdued season, feel they can redeem themselves in this tournament.

They thrashed Triangle 5-0 on Saturday, courtesy of goals from William Manondo, who scored a hat-trick, and a goal each from Talent Chawapiwa and Osborne Mukuradare.

Coach Taurai Mangwiro says they have set their eyes on winning the Chibuku Super Cup.

“People might have talked about us being league favourites when the season started, but being realistic, we have set our target to finish in the top six, and we are giving attention to this tournament where we have better opportunities to win it and represent the country in Africa.

“We are only two games away from playing in Africa whereas we are 15 points behind the log leaders and we have to fancy our chances in this Cup after a difficult season.

“ZPC Kariba have had an indifferent season but are on the recovery note and under (Sunday) Chidzambwa they got off to a bad start but have regrouped and have a chance in this tournament and they will come with their heads held high.

“We hope by the time we play the semi-final match, we would have improved the way we are playing in the league as this has been a difficult season for us,” said Mangwiro.

The coach also spoke about their five-goal blitz against Triangle.

“It wasn’t an easy game and was never one-sided. The scoreline can be deceiving and you feel sorry for (Kelvin) Kaindu (the Triangle coach) because the scoreline did not do justice to the game.

“What I observed is that when we scored our second goal they just crumbled and it took some stuffing out of them.

“I would want to applaud Maxwell Nyamupangedengu who had a rare start and had a stellar show. Tafadzwa Dube was away attending a memorial service for his mother and he has played in all the league matches since the season began,” said Mangwiro.

ZPC Kariba coach Chidzambwa hailed Harare City as a good side who have depth in their ranks.

“If you want to get to the final you have to beat your opponents in the semi-final. Harare City are a good side, they have depth and a lot of good players. We have to work hard,” said Chidzambwa.

“You saw they beat Triangle 5-0. Triangle are not a bad side and this is a sign that they (Harare City) are a good team.

“We have been working very hard with the players to reach this stage. If you have a new coach, you want to apply your style, now they are getting it right, but we are yet to reach where we want to be although we have covered most of the work.”