BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA IN RUSAPE
Black Rhinos . . . . (1) 1
CAPS United . . . . (0) 0
VETERAN defender Dennis Dauda haunted his former team, dancing past the Caps defence before delivering a wonderful cross into the danger zone for skipper Farai Banda to connect into the nets to send the Harare football giants reeling out of the Chibuku Super Cup tournament at Vengere Stadium yesterday.
Makepekepe, who have struggled in this competition since its return to the local football scene close to a decade ago, have become one of the biggest casualties in the first round stage of the knockout tournament.
Dauda was sacked from Caps United just before the transfer window in July for his alleged involvement in the industrial action, which threatened their league match against Cranborne Bullets.
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The former Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year took advantage of the window to join the army side. And his career has flourished ever since as he contributed two goals for his new team despite his position as a defender.
Although he did not score yesterday, he was the provider of the only goal that made the difference
Yet it was the Green Machine who were dominant, particularly in the first half, in which they fashioned out some good chances but were let down by poor finishing. Caps United captain Phineas Bamusi came close on 10 minutes, sending his effort slightly over the bar. Moments later William Manondo had his speculative effort parried away by goalkeeper Blessing Mwandimutsira.
But for all their dominance, they couldn’t turn it into goals. They were made to pay for it on 31 minutes when Banda raced to meet a cross from the left by Dauda and bundled the ball into the nets, drawing applause from the home team’s fans.
Still in the second half, Caps United didn’t look deflated by the goal as they kept probing and Clive Rupiya watched in disappointment as his shot was palmed out of danger by the goalkeeper.
Their determination failed to bear fruits as the army side’s well organised defence remained resolute in the face of relentless attacks by the visitors.
Black Rhinos coach Stanford Stix Mutizwa expressed delight afterwards.
“I am very happy to win against Caps United, they are a big team. I told my boys before that there is a difference between a league and cup game. With a cup game there is no second chance while the league is a marathon. We must try to win this match and I think that motivated them. I am happy with this result,” he said.
His counterpart Lloyd Chitembwe said he was happy with his team’s overall performance despite the defeat.
“Yes, we lost this match, but I am happy with the performance. You can’t really subtract anything the boys gave it their all. I am happy for them,” he said.
It has been a difficult season so far for CAPS United, who have more often than not flirted with the relegation zone while they also went on a forgettable run of seven consecutive defeats during the season.
The club would have been hoping for better fortunes in the Cup.