DeMbare aim to dodge Bullets Tonderai Ndiraya

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

AFTER experiencing glitches in the championship race, giants Dynamos are set to welcome two key players as they set out for another tricky outing against newboys Cranborne Bullets in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Vengere tomorrow.

The Glamour Boys are desperate for a comeback after they dropped five points in their last two outings. Their fans were beginning to feel the pressure after they fell five points behind defending champions FC Platinum in the championship race.

DeMbare fired blanks in the 0-1 upset to Yadah before they were held to a disappointing goalless draw at home by Triangle in their last game. However, Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya sounded upbeat ahead of the trip to Rusape.

He said DeMbare have been working hard on their finishing which has been their major weakness after they have failed to find the back of the nets in four of their last five outings.

“Of course, you would want to win all games but football is not like that. We will keep pushing,” Ndiraya told reporters yesterday.

“We lost against Yadah and then we drew against Triangle in a match that I feel we should have won considering the team played well and the number of scoring chances that we created.

“I felt that it was a case of two points dropped more than anything else. We should have scored at least one goal in that match, but that’s football. If you’re not clinical in front of the goal, then you don’t score and you don’t win.

“But what I’m happy about as a coach is the chances that we created. Hopefully, if we go out to Rusape and create the chances the same way we did last week and get some bit of precision in front of goal, we should be able to score some goals.”

Dynamos welcomed back regulars Trevor Mavhunga and Sylvester Appiah.

“We prepared very well this week. We had a few players that were injured last week who are also coming back. So we keep getting players coming from injuries.

“We were missing Trevor Mavhunga through illness; we were missing Sylvester Appiah through an injury and the two are back.

“Of course, we are still missing Junior Makunike; he is still out. We are also without Munyaradzi Mawadza and Steven Chatikobo. Those are the three missing through injuries but apart from that, we have been doing fine despite the two points that we dropped last week.

“So I think the team is physically and mentally looking good. What is left is for us to get out of the phase that we are in. I strongly believe we will get out of it very soon,” said Ndiraya. DeMbare have experienced a lean spell which has seen them managing to get only five points from a possible 15. At the same time, their biggest threat in the title race FC Platinum have been on a winning streak which now spans six games.

DeMbare are third in the race with 35 points. Chicken Inn, who face Tenax, also at Vengere, on Sunday are in second place with 38 points. FC Platinum are sitting pretty, on 40 points, ahead of their home game against Bulawayo Chiefs tomorrow at Mandava.

“Every match is very important for us to win,” said Ndiraya. “What we don’t want is to lose ground in the championship race. I still feel there is time. Of course, we are five points behind, but with 15 games to go.

“That’s a huge number of points to play for. And a lot of ups and downs are going to happen along the way, not only on us but also on the teams that are fighting at the top and those that are fighting relegation.

“We don’t want to press the panic button at the moment because we are still in the race and of course, we take it game by game. We just want to make sure that we recover from the slump that we had in the past weeks,” said Ndiraya.

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