Hwange, Dembare in stalemate

Hwange 0-0 Dynamos
UNDER pressure coaches Mebelo Njekwa and Paulo Jorge Silva took their fight for survival and relevance at the helm of their respective technical benches to another day as their charges shared the spoils in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match played before a packed Colliery Stadium yesterday.

Hwange's Njekwa trooped into battle with only one win to show for his efforts after four matches, while his counterpart Silva also came to the coal mining town with only four points from four games.

After sweating in the sweltering Hwange temperatures, Dynamos were pleased with the point as they were simply missing in action for most parts of the match.

Both teams were cautious in the opening 10 minutes, but it was the coalminers, who produced the only realistic chance of that period after anchorman Collen Muleya held his head in disbelief when Dynamos defender Elisha Muroiwa ghosted in from nowhere to block his goal-bound thunderbolt for a corner kick, with his goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva nowhere near the action.

Dynamos then threatened on the quarter hour mark after Raphael Kawondera cleverly chested the ball for young Kudzanayi Nyakasaka, who miscued his shot disappointingly with only goalkeeper Future Sibanda to beat.

Another Hwange attack minutes later saw Innocent Mucheneka roasting Muroiwa near the corner flag before laying a sitter for young and enterprising striker Gift Mbweti, whose effort was again thwarted by the Dynamos rearguard.

From then on, the match degenerated to a drab show.

Some individual brilliance by Godknows Murwira almost gave Dynamos the lead just before the break when he cleverly weaved his way past Hwange defenders Phakamani Dube and Gerald Ndlovu before sending in a cross that was completely missed by Nyakasaka with an attempted diving header.

Hwange's Mucheneka blazed his effort over the crossbar with the last effort of the first half.

Silva then threw in Evans Gwekwerere three minutes into the second half, but he was not given any room to manoeuvre, as he was kept under lock and key by the Hwange defensive duo of David Boriwondo and Gerald Ndlovu.

There was an off the field drama in the 65th minute when a shirtless Dembare fan ran onto the pitch and sprinted towards the Hwange goal area where he put a bottle with an unknown substance.

This didn't go down well with the Hwange marshals, who manhandled the rowdy fan, much to the chagrin of the Dynamos fans, who were already frustrated by their team's lifeless performance.

However, the police brought the situation under control within minutes.

Njekwa was pleased with the point.

"We didn't play badly as we kept possession well, but unfortunately we didn't convert our dominance into goals. We will continue fighting in our next game," said Njekwa.

Silva said: "Overall the boys didn't play well as they couldn't keep the ball on the turf and it was made worse by our opponents who kept playing those long balls. It's back to work for us as we seek to get the right formula because I'm not happy with our performance."

TEAMS

HWANGE: F Sibanda; P Dube; P Mpelele; G Ndlovu; D Boriwondo; O Moyo; A Chuma; C Muleya ( N Sianchali 68th min); G Zulu; G Mbweti; I Mucheneka

DYNAMOS: T Mukuruva; O Mushure; E Muroiwa; S Linyama; O Mwerahari; G Murwira( C Rusere 63th min); R Kawondera (T Chipunza 73th min); S Alimenda; B Amidu; K Nyakasaka; K Nasama( E Gwekerere 48th min)