By Sports Reporter
FAST emerging Zimbabwe premiership giants Ngezi Platinum Wednesday clobbered Shabanie Mine 5-1 at the Baobab Stadium to reduce to a single point, the gap separating them with log leaders FC Platinum in one of the highlight clashes of Week 23 of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League race.
With FC Platinum slumping to a 1-0 defeat to Harare City at Rufaro courtesy of a penalty converted by Moses Muchenje, Ngezi Platinum took their points tally to 51 while the log leaders remained on 52. The results have now set the stage for an intriguing conclusion to the title race.
At the National Sports Stadium, Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance despite being held to a goalless draw by Yadah.
Dynamos had to finish the match with 10 men after defender Marshall Machazane was shown a straight red card three minutes from full time for bringing down a Yadah player in an off the ball incident.
Mutasa said the point gained had boosted the confidence of his charges ahead of their clash with Caps United on Sunday.
He noted that while the energy level displayed by his charges was not what he expected, he was happy with the overall performance.
“It’s another game in which we couldn’t score and if you don’t score you don’t win games. But I am satisfied with the overall performance of the team,” Mutasa said.
“The guys played well but the energy levels they displayed was not as good as we had expected. We wanted to get three points, but we managed one point and we will accept it.
“The point that we have gained has given us the confidence and hunger going into the Harare derby. I was not in a position to see whether Machazane deserved a red card but what I saw were Yadah players faking injuries to delay the game.
“For us, it’s a drawback because Machazane is a key member of the team. He will miss the upcoming matches and there is nothing we can do about it.”
His counterpart Thomas Ruzive was elated to secure a point against Dynamos.
“Indeed, we are happy. Coming from a defeat against Triangle we needed to strategise against Dynamos. Our game plan was to try and frustrate them so that we get a positive result and am glad we got a point against Dynamos. They are a big team and we are happy with the result,” said Ruzive.
Dynamos dominated the match early in the first half with Brett Amidu missing a headed opportunity after 19 minutes following a brilliant cross from the right by Peace Makaha.
Yadah also fluffed a good chance in the second half with Brian Mapfumo blazing his effort over the bar from near the penalty area on 68 minutes.
But as Dynamos piled on the pressure on their opponents, Yadah FC began to run down the clock as they appeared content with a draw.
Brian Madzokere took centre stage as he feigned injuries several times but refused to be taken out on a stretcher as he sought to kill time.
He would be led out of the pitch limping but before he would be treated he would signal to the referee to be allowed to come into the pitch.
Teams: Dynamos: S Chinani, P Makaha, O Mushure, M Machazane, G Mukambi, B Moyo, G Saunyama, B Amidu, (K Dhemere50’), D Mukamba, E Mandiranga (P Mutasa 57’), T Macheke
Yadah FC: S Chimusoro, B Chikwenya, A Makopa, B Mapfumo, E Karembo, C Kaseke, (L Murape 54’), L Mavhunga, R Matema, S Sithole
