Fungai Muderere, Senior Sports Reporter
Chicken Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2) 2
Dynamos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0) 0
RED-HOT Chicken Inn proved to be too spicy for visiting Dynamos in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League encounter played at Barbourfields Stadium yesterday where the DeMbare fans turned violent.
DeMbare finished with 10 players on the park, with skipper Edward Sadomba sent off for a second bookable offence by Hwange-based referee Hardly Ndazi. Sadomba was shown the red card in the 42nd minute after he had fouled roving Gamecocks left back Xolani Ndlovu.
The result means DeMbare have only won once in Bulawayo against Chicken Inn, a 1-0 triumph in September 2015, on the several occasions they have visited the City of Kings and Queens to take on the Gamecocks. Their 2019 duel in the City of Kings and Queens was a match in which a frustrated Dynamos family briefly turned Emagumeni into a warzone after Clive Augusto and Malvin Gaki had a goal each for the hosts in the 10th and 23rd minutes respectively.
Chicken Inn Gaki and teammate celebrate a goal
Augusto, who now has four goals under his belt, thrust Joey Antipas’ men into the lead after he converted a penalty that saw him blast the ball past veteran goal minder Munyaradzi Diya who had dived the right way. Chicken Inn were awarded the spot kick after Ndazi adjudged that Sipho Ndlovu, who was chasing an Obriel Chirinda clever feed, was brought down in the box by young Tawanda Chisi.
Gaki made it two for Gamecocks following a lapse in concentration from the DeMbare rearguard. With Chisi, Jimmy Tigere and company failing to play to the whistle and calling for an offside and with the referee and his first assistant Sanelisiwe Sibanda not making a call for it, Gaki took advantage, coolly controlled the ball and when the Dynamos defenders reacted, they were consequently roasted, before the pint-sized midfielder let loose a stinger that beat a badly exposed Diya.
Sadomba, a veteran of many local and international football battles, had initially been cautioned in the 35th minute for rough play on Chicken Inn skipper Moses Jackson. The sending off of Sadomba did not go down well with the DeMbare camp and it was no wonder to see DeMbare head coach, Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe” storm into the field of play to register his concerns to Ndazi.
While Chigowe was lucky to escape without a censure, Barbourfields Stadium’s Mpilo End, which was housing DeMbare faithfuls, registered their displeasure by throwing missiles into the pitch. As a result, the match endured a four-minute stoppage before half-time with Dynamos fans aggressively shaking the perimeter fence at the Mpilo End.
Chigowe confronts referee
After the breather, Dynamos fans continued with their rowdy behaviour which, however, later fizzled out following some polished build-ups that were being masterminded by a determined Godfrey Mukambi, a seasoned player that Chigowe and his assistants surprisingly decided to introduce as a 38th minute substitute for Jarrison Sekemani, a man who undoubtedly chased shadows.
It was the depth in the Gamecocks squad that hindered Chigowe’s men to fully penetrate their opponents as Antipas had the luxury of introducing more offensive players that included Valentine Kadonzvo, Bret Amidu and Moses Majika deep into the second half for Chirinda, Ndlovu and injured Gaki respectively.
“It would have been good to get a goal harvest but they came back a better side in the second half. We welcome the three points after playing high tempo football in the first half. Our ball retention was good in the first half as we kept DeMbare on the back foot. However, our tempo dropped in the second half maybe also because of the too many stops and starts,” said Antipas.
His opposite number, Chigowe, had the referee to blame and he somehow also took the responsibility for “inciting” his team’s fans rowdy behaviour.
“As Dynamos we will rise and fight again. Chicken Inn are a god side but the referee was pathetic. I did not see a penalty. Sadomba was not supposed to get a red card because that was a fair tackle on the Chicken Inn defender. I would want to take it as if I deliberately incited the crowd’s behaviour. I reacted to the red card and they reacted by joining me in the protest,” said Chigowe who has seen his charges post one win and two back to back losses.
Teams
Chicken Inn: D Bernard, M Jackson, G Goddard, X Ndlovu, T Chipunza, I Muchaneka, M Gaki (Majika 86 mins), B Bernard, C Augusto, O Chirinda ( Kadonzvo 69 mins) , S Ndlovu (Amidu 75 mins)
Dynamos : M Diya, A Maliseko, T Muringai, T Chisi, J Tigere, J Selemani ( Mukambi 38 mins) T Moffat ( Macheke 46 mins) N Mangala, E Sadomba, M Mawadza, V Mbega (Chipo 46 mins)