BY HENRY MHARA
HARARE giants Dynamos will be buoyed by the return of coach Tonderai Ndiraya as they plot to recover from a tumultuous couple of weeks, which began with the abandonment of the match against archrivals Highlanders, when they take on Herentals FC at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.
Ndiraya was suspended on Saturday last week with the club opting not to divulge the details of the development and they also gave little away when they lifted the suspension following a hearing on Thursday.
In the last two weeks, Dynamos were losing their first premier league game in 10 starts when the match ended prematurely due to crowd trouble, they lost the top spot to Chicken Inn and also suspended the coach.
The team was fined by the PSL for disturbances in a match against Bulawayo Chiefs while they were also charged for the crowd trouble that occurred in their match against Highlanders.
In the end the reinstatement of Ndiraya is the only piece of good news to have occurred for the Glamour Boys in the past couple of weeks.
And a defeat to Herentals could spell trouble for the club’s title aspirations.
The club’s vice-captain Godknows Murwira has admitted it would be a “disaster” for the club if they lost the Harare Derby to Herentals today.
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“When you don’t win at Dynamos the pressure starts to mount, so we will do our very best so that we can win the match against Herentals because another defeat or draw then it’s a disaster,” Murwira said.
DeMbare dropped five points in their last two matches, following a draw against Bulawayo City before they played Highlanders a fortnight ago
“For a team that is contesting for the championship it’s not healthy to go for three games without a win.
”We need to get back to our normal selves so that we start to win matches again,” he said.
The build-up to the match was dominated by the news of Ndiraya’s suspension for alleged insubordination. The former midfielder was arraigned before the club’s disciplinary committee on Thursday afternoon, a meeting which was chaired by Dynamos executive vice chairman Moses Shumba.
Murwira, one of the senior squad members in the team, said Ndiraya’s suspension had not really affected the players.
“When you sign a contract at a football club, especially at a big club like Dynamos, you are told of your duties and what you are expected to do, but in as much as we would have loved to have our coach, whatever is happening outside the playing field is none of our business and there is nothing we can do about it. We are focusing on what we can change. What we can do as players is to play football and get the results,” Murwira said
“We have the bulk of the coaches that were already here. It’s not that the whole technical team has been changed. It’s just one member of the team who is not available, but the situation has been normal. Those available took over from where the coach left and have been telling us to focus on the game and on the job at hand.
”We know it’s not going to be an easy match so they have been pushing us hard so that we win the game on Sunday.”
The Students who are eighth on the log are unbeaten in their last three matches. In fact, they have lost one match in their last five matches, which was a surprise defeat to Cranborne Bullets. During that period, they managed to beat title contenders FC Platinum and Triangle, while holding log leaders Chicken In to a draw.
“Herentals are a tricky side,” Murwira reckoned. “They have some very good players, but we are Dynamos and we should win the match. We will do everything in our power and give 100 percent effort so that we come out on top at the end of the match.”
Murwira said last week’s enforced league break helped the players “recharge their batteries.” More importantly for Dynamos, the break afforded injured players like Brendon Mpofu time to recuperate. The left-back who missed the team’s last two matches has fully recovered and is expected to feature on Sunday. Tino Muringai, is battling an injury, which has forced him out of the team’s couple of matches now, has started training, although he is not expected to play a part this week.
