MIDFIELDER Tichaona Mabvura scored the solitary goal to give a lacklustre Dynamos a slender victory over a battling Triangle United in a disappointing Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
DANIEL NHAKANISO SPORTS REPORTER Dynamos ………………… (1) 1 Triangle United ……………. 0
MIDFIELDER Tichaona Mabvura scored the solitary goal to give a lacklustre Dynamos a slender victory over a battling Triangle United in a disappointing Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Not for the first time this season, Dynamos left their fans frustrated with a lousy performance which severely exposed their lack of options upfront as Patrick Khumbula and an out-of-sorts Simba Sithole took turn to miss glorious chances.
After a jittery start by the reigning champions, Mabvura saved them from the blushes with a well taken left-footed finish in the 29th minute.
Diminutive midfielder Ronald Chitiyo turned his marker on the right before releasing Mabvura, whose curling shot from an acute angle on the left sneaked past a diving Ronald Mudimu and the far post.
Earlier Sithole had started his horror show when he shot straight at Mudimu after racing clear before Chitiyo blazed the rebound over the cross bar in the 11th minute.
Triangle had to wait until the 11th minute for their first real chance when midfielder Hilary Bakacheza headed Lameck Nhamo’s cross over the bar with Gorge Chigova badly exposed.
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After the breakthrough by Mabvura, Sithole should have put Dynamos further ahead in the 36th minute when he latched onto a through ball with just the keeper to beat. Instead he side-footed Khumbula’s cross straight at the goalkeeper.
It seemed as if Dynamos would be punished for their wastefulness in front of goal following a lapse in concentration by their defenders.
That presented Richard Kawondera with a glorious chance just before the stroke of halftime.
However, the hardworking striker’s wayward shooting let him down as he directed his effort into the side netting much to the relief of the Dynamos fans.
After an opening half that failed to live up to expectations, it didn’t get any better in the second half as both teams struggled to control the ball with Triangle lacking the attacking impetus in the final third.
Dynamos, whose stout defence was their strongest department, belatedly managed to find a foothold in the game after the introduction of Walter Mukanga for Cliff Sekete in the 58th minute.
Stirred by the gifted midfielder’s one-touch football, the home side began to grow in confidence.
However, it was their finishing which left a lot to be desired with Khumbula wasting three clear chances before he was replaced by Washington Pakamisa in the 78th minute.
Sithole, who was booed every time he had possession left the fans in stitches when he failed to just tap the ball past Mudimu after a brilliant pass by Pakamisa.
It always looked like it would take a moment of individual skill for Dynamos to get the second and Chitiyo looked to have produced just that when his brilliant volley from a corner by Oscar Machapa was tipped over the bar by Mudimu in the 87th minute.
Dynamos coach Kalisto Pasuwa admitted that his strike force needed to improve.
“We are happy to have got the three points, but maybe it’s the chances that we were missing that cost us at the end of the day. We will have to work on out strike force in order to improve in that area, he said.
“Maybe it’s the chances that they were missing, but the skill for them to be in those areas was there.”
Triangle coach Biggie Zuze said he was happy with his team’s perfomance.
“I think it was a good game for us although we lost. We gave it our best and tried especially in the second half where we played very well and kept possession of the ball a lot, but if you cannot create chances to score goals you won’t win matches,” he said.
Yesterday’s win lifted Dynamos above How Mine and ZPC Kariba into third position on 19 points from 10 matches while Triangle remained in 13th position on eight points.
