DHLAKAMA NOW THE TOAST OF CHIPINGE
RODWELL Dhlakama has endeared himself with the Chipinge community after hunting down players who have their roots in the Manicaland district and signing them at Greenfuel.
The Chisumbanje club hardly resonated with the locals when they punched their weight into the Premier Soccer League last year.
But Dhlakama, who inherited the coaching job from Bekithemba Ndlovu mid-way through the season, is changing that.
The stadium was filled with partisan fans who rallied the home team in their 1-0 defeat to Dynamos in a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
With a number of locally-groomed talent in their ranks, Greenfuel are becoming the darling of the community.
Dhlakama, who hails from the same district, has lured the duo of Luke Musukiri and Stephen Chatikobo to Chisumbanje.
The two were groomed at Chawira Academy at Checheche Growth Point, just 5km from the Greenfuel Arena and the pair is a loved in this area.
They have seen action for Dynamos and Simba Bhora and they will be expected to flourish for their
home team.
Dhlakama has also added another pair of Chipinge boys in former Harare City midfielder,
Learnmore Muyambo, and ex-CAPS United winger Clive Rupiya, into the fold.
The quartet is joined by Washington Mapuwa and Reginald Chinemo.
“First and foremost let me take this opportunity to thank the owners of the team led by Billy Rautenbach.
“I grew up in this Chipinge district and I can tell you that the only games which mattered included muchongoyo, zvipunha and mahlozi.
“Yet, there were a lot of talented players who made their names playing at the highest level who came from Chipinge.
“They include Eddie Dube, Zebron Simango, Lovemore Mapuya, Erasmus Chauke, Mathew Mahala, Philip Marufu, Tonderai Fungurai ,Genesis Mangombe, Perfect Chikwende, Blessing Gumiso and Moses Gutu, among others.
“They could all have played for Greenfuel and that is the opportunity which we are giving to these guys who hail from this part of the country.
“That will give us some good leverage and help us identify with the community.
“We are also balancing the mathematics too but our priority this pre-season window was to give the team an identity which I believe is now there and the locals are happy”.
Dhlakama said Greenfuel will be a competitive outfit this coming term.