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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

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

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

IT’S a case of too little too late for Dynamos after the Harare giants beat relegation candidates Whawha at the National Sports Stadium yesterday to reclaim second place in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League.

Tinashe Makanda scored the solitary goal after only 18 minutes. The forward, who had not scored for DeMbare this season, could have got his second after ending the prolonged goal drought, but his scorching piledriver hit the crossbar and bounced back into play from the line, with two minutes of regulation remaining.

The handful of Dynamos fans, who attended the match yesterday, applauded their team for a decent showing.

Unfortunately, the Glamour Boys have nothing much to fight for in the remainder of the marathon.

The league title is now beyond their reach as championship favourites FC Platinum now need only two points from the last four games to wrap up the campaign.

The platinum miners beat Herentals 1-0 at Mandava on Saturday to stretch their unbeaten run to 17 games and take their points tally to 67.

Dynamos swapped places with Chicken Inn after the Gamecocks were held to a 2-2 draw by Highlanders at Barbourfields yesterday.

The Glamour Boys are now on 56 points and still have a mathematical chance of reaching 68 points, which leaves the platinum miners on the verge of clinching a fourth consecutive title if they get two points from the available 12.

The prospects of winning this year’s title had since diminished for Dynamos, despite the back-to-back wins in their last two outings against Manica Diamonds and Whawha.

Makanda was on the scoresheet for Dynamos for the first time this season with a brilliant grounder, just moments after King Nadolo, probably the best player on show for Dynamos yesterday, had dragged his shot just wide, with only 10 minutes played.

DeMbare could have won by a bigger margin but the visitors’ goalkeeper Terrence Chiku was in his best form.

However, there was nothing much Chiku could do to stop a well struck effort by Makanda, which went in via the base of the left upright post.

The Whawha defenders were left stranded inside the box after Nadolo had made a brilliant run inside the box before cutting the ball back for Makanda.

Ghanaian Emmanuel Paga also had an opportunity in the first half but the keeper narrowed the angle and forced the forward to chip the ball over.

The Glamour Boys made a huge appeal for a penalty after a Whawha defender had handled inside the box moments after the restart.

Issa Sadiki, who was the man of the match in DeMbare’s previous outing at Manica, came close with a rising shot before the Whawha goalkeeper made some crucial saves late on to deny Makanda and Nadolo 

DeMbare coach Tonderai Ndiraya rued the missed opportunities and hailed the visiting goalkeeper, Chiku.

“It was a very difficult match but I am happy the team got maximum points. We created so many chances and I am sure the difference today was the goalkeeper.

“He put up a very good show today. We could have scored more but the goalkeeper was the difference. Overall, I was impressed by the fight and the work that the team put in,” said Ndiraya.

Whawha are almost as good as relegated after they remained stuck at the basement of the table with 20 points. They are 12 points away from safety with four games remaining in the season.

They also had their moments yesterday with Timothy Tozivepi coming close with a 62nd minute freekick that grazed the DeMbare crossbar. Moments later teenage forward Jayden Barake had his shot saved by goalkeeper Prince Tafiremutsa.

Whawha coach Luke Petros Jukulile has accepted their fate as they look set to become the first team to be officially relegated this season.

“At the end of the game we are still crying about the conversion part of it. The youngsters are trying their level best,” he said.

“Looking at their level and maturity, these are youngsters who learn through mistakes.

“Hopefully if they are given time they will do well and we hope to come back and reinforce in division one next season. 

“Now the chances are becoming slim for us to say we are ready to survive as we are losing points like this,” said Jukulile.

Teams

Dynamos: P. Tafiremutsa, E. Jalai, T. Muringai, P. Jaure, F. Makarati, T. Mavhunga, J. Makunike , K. Nadolo (M. Ofori, 90th minute), E. Paga (E. Katema, 64th minute), I. Sadiki (T. Chidhobha, 64th minute), T. Makanda

Whawha: T. Chiku, T. Magwaza, R. Useni, M. Chirwa, T. Daka, R. Horonga, S. Ganje, E. Mawanda (O. Zinyama, 36th minute), B. Phiri, J. Barake, T. Tozivepi