Makarati placates under pressure Ndiraya
DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya heaved a huge sigh of relief after collecting maximum points when they dismissed clueless Manica Diamonds in a dull Castle Lager Premiership encounter played at Sakubva Stadium yesterday.
Frank Makarati scored the only goal of the match in the 65th minute when he made the most of an Emmanuel Paga pass in the box as he did well to deceive Manica Diamonds goalkeeper Joram Muchambo with a low shot that nestled into the left corner to score.
Given the pressure which has been mounting on Ndiraya in recent weeks, having gone for three successive rounds of league matches without victory, it was understandable to see the beaming smile on his face after Rusape based referee Brighton Chimene blew the final whistle.
Only last week, Dynamos fans staged a demonstration, at the National Sports Stadium barricading the team inside the dressing room demanding the sacking of head Ndiraya after their faint hopes of catching up with log leaders FC Platinum were extinguished by the 1-0 defeat to Ngezi Platinum Stars.
In his post post-match remarks, Ndiraya said “This was not an easy match. Congratulations to the boys. They did well to win this encounter more so given the background that we had gone for a lengthy period without winning. I am happy for the team.”
Be that as it may, yesterday’s unexciting match between Manica Diamonds and Dynamos was just another sad reminder of how the standards of local football have plummeted, no wonder the argument proffered by a section of followers of the game who strongly believe that the product is not even worth the US$3 stadium entry fee charged at the turnstiles.
The result left under fire Manica Diamonds coach Johanisi Nhumwa almost clueless on what to do to change his team’s fortunes.
“It is the same thing again. We are creating chances but our conversion rate is terrible. We are just not scoring goals. We have been like this for many matches now and it is something that I think we just have to keep working on to improve.
“In this match we did well to match the standards of our opponents but somehow we just could not score after creating so many scoring chances. It’s sad,” said Nhumwa, who endured a barrage of verbal attacks from irate fans after the match.