THE Chegutu Pirates versus Dynamos match became the second to be abandoned in the current Castle Lager Premier Soccer League season after crowd trouble caused premature stoppage following a disputed Emmanuel Paga goal in added time.
The referee gave the goal after consulting the assistant referee, but the decision triggered chaos, which could not be contained at the Baobab Stadium in Ngezi.
Paga headed the ball goalwards from a corner, but it was cleared seemingly across the goalline and the home side supporters would have none of it.
Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe urged the Chegutu Pirates supporters to learn to accept the referees' decisions, insisting that the referees were right in awarding that goal.
“Overally, I am happy with the performance of the boys. They played at their level best, they created a lot of chances,” he said.
“Well the referees are human beings, but I thought they missed one penalty. That shot from Valentine (Kadonzvo), maybe from where I was sitting I didn't see it clearly, but I thought it was a goal, but the referees have the final decision. I think it was a goal and I don't know why they are saying it's not a goal. I think hooliganism is not good for our football. If you are supporting your team, you have to support decisions by the referees, not to come and cause havoc by throwing stones on the pitch. The supporters need to understand that their team is coming from Division One and some of the decisions may seem harsh. If it is not in your favour, you may think it's not a goal, but if you look at the incident you will see that it is a clear goal.”
He was pleased with the way his team created chances and now wants to work on conversion.
“It’s good that we are creating chances and there are lot of avenues into the box, but still the problem is the way we are fluffing chances, especially the strikers. It's OK we are creating a lot of chances, but we are not doing justice.”
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Chegutu Pirates coach Emmanuel Day Gutu opined that the assistant referee was influenced to make his decision by a photographer.
“It’s a pity the game had to be decided this way. But we gave a good account of ourselves, they had their moments and we had our moments. About the goal, I am not sure. The assistant referee was better positioned. When we asked the referee, he too was not sure whether the ball had crossed the line. The ball was in the air, so it was very difficult to see whether it crossed the line [or not]. The referee wasn't sure and went and consulted the assistant referee, but the assistant referee's decision was influenced by the photographer. So we are not sure and even myself I am not sure whether it crossed the line,” he said.
“I am happy with the performance. First half we were jittery, but second half we were a bit more composed. We now know how to play with bigger clubs. We learnt our lesson against Highlanders, it’s work in progress, but I am happy with the performance.”
