BY HENRY MHARA IN RUSAPE
CRANBORNE BULLETS . . . . . .(0) 1
DYNAMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
TONDERAI NDIRAYA’s future at Dynamos hangs in the balance after his side fell to Cranborne Bullets at Vengere Stadium in Rusape yesterday.
Tadiwa Chibunyu’s second half header from a freekick heaped pressure on the under fire DeMbare coach.
The defeat means the Harare giants have dropped eight points in their last three matches after they also lost to Yadah and drew against Triangle.
More worryingly is that the gap between them and log leaders FC Platinum continues to widen. Dynamos are now eight points behind the defending league champions after yesterday’s defeat.
They currently sit on third position on the log standings, but are in danger of dropping down to fourth after the weekend round of matches.
This will be a sickening defeat for Ndiraya given how his team dominated, but were unable to make the most of the numerous chances in front of goal.
“I don’t know what we have to do to score a goal,” a disappointed Ndiraya said.
“Today’s game is one good example. We did everything to score a goal, but we couldn’t score just like we did when we played Triangle last week.
“But today it was much worse because we dominated and were in control of the whole match, but we failed to score.”
Cranborne Bullets coach Nesbert Saruchera was over the moon as his side managed to string two wins in a row following another vital win over Bulawayo Chiefs last week.
The army side continue to drift away from the relegation zone. Their latest win saw them moving to 22 points, four away from the team sitting on the relegation cut-off point.
“We really wanted to win this game, so we are happy we managed to collect three points,” Saruchera said.
“Defensively we were solid although they created some good chances. We forced them to play long balls and we managed to deal with it.”
Dembare started brightly on a bumpy Vengere pitch as they enjoyed the early spells of possession.
Their top goal scorer Emmanuel Paga wasted the first chance of the match just two minutes in when he side footed Bill Antonio’s cross wide from few metres out.
They were so dominant in the first half Saruchera was forced to make a tactical substitution just after the half-hour mark to try and contain their opponents.
But for all their dominance, Ndiraya’s men couldn’t just break down a resolute Bullets defense as the two teams went to the break goalless.
Dynamos started the second half with the same attacking intent as they showed in the first, with King Nadolo firing just wide in the opening few minutes.
Antonio was soon able to fire a ball across the face of goal with the outside of his boot but Evans Katema directed his effort on to the upright post, much to the disappointment of Ndiraya and the supporters, who were already on their feet ready to celebrate.
The tempo of the game remained on the side of Dynamos but they were soon trailing.
They were conceding a lot of freekicks just outside their box as they were failing to contain their former star Jarrison Selemani, who was causing his former paymasters all sorts of problems.
A freekick was swung into the box by substitute Tinotenda Meke and Chibunyu rose highest to head past the exposed Taimon Mvula in goals for DeMbare.
Selemani almost increased the lead after a defensive mixup, but Mvula rescued the situation with a save.
Godknows Murwira hit the side netting for DeMbare from a freekick as the former champions desperately searched for an equalizer.
Antonio had a chance to rescue a point on 90th minute, when he got to the end of a long ball to go face to face with the keeper but he skied his left footed shot.
A flurry of other chances were created by the visitors in stoppage time with the best falling for substitute Issa Sadiki who hit his effort over the bar.
Unlike last week when the DeMbare fans booed and whistled away the team at the end of the match, there were no incidences here at the final whistle.
Teams
Cranborne Bullets: H Rusawo, T Charakupa, X Janatana, M Namakhoma, T Chibunyu, Y Mutembedza (J Selemani, 35′), B Muzondiwa (T Meke, 61′), K Chiripawako (K Chidhonza, 80′), D Mbewe, C Nyakope, M Mushangwe
Dynamos: T Mvula, P Jaure, E Jalai, F Makarati, B Mpofu (I Sadiki, 75′) , R Kawondera (A Eonde, 75′), K Murera, K Nadolo, E Paga (G Murwira, 57′), B Antonio, E Katema