Buffaloes . . . . . . . . .(0) Dynamos . . . . . . . . . (1)1
KENNETH NYANGANI SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
DEFENDING champions Dynamos retained top after beating an out-of sorts Buffaloes in a scrappy Castle Lager Premier Soccer League football match played at Sakubva Stadium yesterday.
The win was far from convincing from the defending champions, but what mattered most was the vital three points, thanks to Washington Pakamisa’s eighth-minute header.
They displaced Saul Chaminuka’s ZPC Kariba, who had moved to the top on Saturday after beating Triangle 0-1.
Dynamos have 49 points, ZPC are on 47 while Caps United follow closely with 45 points after a clinical 4-0 dismantling of Highlanders yesterday.
The Bulawayo giants are fourth on 49 while Hwange and FC Platinum are on 38 points each.
Dynamos head coach Kalisto Pasuwa said while they created more chances than their counterparts, they should work hard in the remaining five matches if they are to retain their title.
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“It was a scrappy match, but we had more chances than our counterparts. We did not bury them. We are in a race and at this moment it does not matter what type of a goal you score.
“There are no small teams in our league; every team is now difficult to play against. I think for the past three seasons those teams you might want to say are small teams have been vying for the championship,” he added.
His counterpart Moses Chunga said they conceded a soft goal.
“That goal came from sloppy defending. It was schoolboy blunder. We are now looking forward for our next matches and there is a possibility of ending the season in the top eight, but we need to take each game as it comes,” he said.
The visitors scored from a counterattack after the soldiers’ defender Marshall Machazani lost possession on the left flank.
Diminutive midfielder Ronald Chitiyo picked up the loose ball before finding Rodreck Mutuma whose pin-point cross found Pakamisa who firmly planted his header at the bottom right corner of the diving Buffaloes shot stopper Itayi Chiwara.
After the opener, Buffaloes nerves were clearly unsettled as they failed to come up with any meaningful raids, but it was gangling Chipinge-born and bred Buffaloes star Lloyd Katongomara who watched in disbelief as his shot missed the target by a few inches.
The soldiers then won a free-kick at the edge of the box in the 30th minute after Pakamisa fouled Jacob Muzokomba, but Dynamos’ second choice goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva safely collected Kelvin Thembani’s delivery.
Chunga was found wanting after leaving out Tafadzwa Mombeshora on the bench the entire afternoon after giving Roy Mwenga a first team jersey. Mwenga has been fantastic coming on as a substitute rather than starting the match.
In another sad chapter of Zimbabwean football violence erupted in the eastern stand in the 44th minute between Dynamos and Buffaloes fans.
A Dynamos fan ran onto the football pitch and the Lowveld-based referee Jimmy Makwanda briefly stopped the match as three Buffaloes fans in hot pursuit of the fan caught and dragged him out before the match continued.
There was nothing much in the second half with Tafadzwa Rusike missing an easy chance in the 73rd minute.
Pakamisa could have scored his second goal of the afternoon, but his shot hit the crossbar in the 81st minute.
Meanwhile, How Mine won 2-1 against Hwange FC at the Colliery.
