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Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  (0) 1

Whawha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     0

THEY lacked the glamour and gloss but one moment of sheer brilliance produced late in the match carried the day for Dynamos who secured their passage into the Chibuku Super Cup quarter-finals at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.

Man-of-the-match Trevor Mavhunga scored the solitary strike with 17 minutes still on the clock to dump a stubborn Whawha out of the premium knockout tournament.

DeMbare have always struggled in this competition which they are still to win since its return nine years ago and they needed to beat the minnows to secure their passage to the next round.

They did exactly that but not before they were made to sweat for the victory by a well-drilled Whahwa side who, with a bit of lucky, could have claimed the game.

Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya was happy with the win although he expressed reservations in the way his charges performed.

“I am happy that we have qualified to the next round of the competition, but I am not entirely happy about the way we performed today especially in the first half. I thought we should have killed the game in the opening half. We created so many chances but we could not convert them,” said Ndiraya.

“It got us so worried because we should have got the goals and wrapped the game in the first half but it wasn’t to be.

“We then came back into the second half but if you don’t put the game to bed, you then start to be impatient and desperate.

“But, I am happy that we kept our cool, kept on going and kept on creating chances and I would really wanted us to score from those opportunities but we failed.

“I am happy that in the end, it took the anticipation and brilliance of Trevor (Mavhunga) to score that goal that got us the win.

“I am happy, that’s about cup games, sometimes you don’t need to play very well but you should win.”

It was an afternoon that almost entirely belonged to the visitors but the way Dynamos punched back made the encounter quite a good contest.

It was the Glamour Boys who took the initiative in the opening moments and with barely 10 minutes on the clock, Ndiraya’s lads fashioned out the best chance of the match.

But Ralph Kawondera glaringly missed the target as he leaned back instead of forward to blast the ball over with the Whawha defence and goalkeeper All Mashaya at sixes and sevens.

Whawha responded with a spirited attack and won a free-kick just outside the box which was taken by the impressive Timothy Tozivepi but with goalkeeper Taimon Mvula beaten, it crashed against the crossbar and Jayden Bakare failed to hit the target on the follow-up.

Kawondera had a firm header saved by Mashaya before defender Frank Makarati hit the crossbar as the Harare giants probed towards the end of the first half.

DeMbare started the second phase brilliantly with Emmanuel Paga, who was silenced all afternoon by Whawha captain Roy Useni, beating the off-side trap.

But with only the goalkeeper to beat, the Ghanaian forward hit the upright and there were no ready takers of the rebound.

With the clock seemly ticking faster, Ndiraya introduced the returning Bill Antonio for Kawondera as he sought more creativity from the flanks.

Antonio, who has been in Belgium for trials, was, however, switched off by Terrence Daka.

Antonio, despite some roucus support from a handful of Dynamos support present at the giant stadium, seemed too jittery and so much under pressure to prove a point.

He was bullied by his marker and retreated into his shell for the rest of the game.

Then Mavhunga stepped up.

Emmanuel Jalai missed the ball as he attempted to clip a cross and that wrong-footed the Whawha goalkeeper and relaxed his defenders.

Mavhunga, with his head up, spotted space to the right of the goalkeeper and unleashed a first-time howitzer that nestled into the nets.

Whawha coach Luke Petros then introduced his ace, Calum English-Brown, who serenaded, keeping Godknows Murwira and Tino Muringai on their toes.

However, the deed had already been done although Obert Zinyama had a late chance to force the match into penalties which was saved by Mvula.

 Teams

Dynamos: Taimon Mvula, Emmanuel Jalai, Frank Makarati, Sylvester Appiah, Keith Murera, Tinotenda Muringai, Ralph Kawondera (Bill Antonio 57th min), Godknows Murwira, Trevor Mavhunga, Emmanuel Paga,Evans Katema (Tinashe Makanda 80th min).

Whawha: Allan Mashaya, Tendaishe Magwaza, Terrence Daka, Roy Useni, Munyaradzi Chirwa (Albert Matewu 82nd min), Justin Gadzani, Raymond Horonga, Evidence Mawanda (Obert Zinyama 62nd min) Butho Phiri (Takudzwa Jukulile 72nd min), Jayden Barake, Timothy Tozivepi (Calum English-Brown 73rd min).