Courage Dutiro
Masvingo United survived a late Grayham Football Club (FC) comeback as they were held to a two-all draw by the visitors in an entertaining Eastern Region Division One fixture played at Mucheke Stadium on June 19.
Following a four-week long mid-season break, fans were treated to an entertaining display which offered value for their money as both sides sized each other in the opening stages of the game.
Una Una were unlucky not to take the lead in the 32nd minute when skipper Admire ‘Dhumbe’ Banda hit the crossbar with a powerful header only for industrious Benedict ‘Kaka’ Bere to fluff the rebound over bar.
However, the home side managed to find the opener through a neatly worked exchange of passes that saw exciting winger Tinotenda Zivanai crossing in a grass mower only for Sean Mutongi to make a cool finish late in the first half.
A limping Banda doubled Masvingo’s lead from the spot-kick slotting beyond the visiting goalkeeper’s after one of the defenders hackled down a Una Una player.
The home side was dealt a heavy blow midway the second interval losing Bere to injury and the away team capitalized on the lapse in midfield where they dictated pace and the Una Una Empire crumbled, failing to consolidate the lead.
Grayham pulled one back in 72 minutes after a defensive lapse on part of Masvingo United allowing visiting captain to hit a screamer into the top corner beyond the reach of the goalkeeper.
Whistles were blowing from Una Una faithful as they sensed danger and needed urgent substitution from coach Heydays Mugeji but a couple of minutes later, Masvingo paid dearly for poor defending in the 85th minute as they conceded the equalizer which motivated the away team that was now charging for a maximum set of three points.
… Fans blame coach for home ‘humiliation’ as usual
Masvingo United die-hard supporters have dispraised the team’s gaffer over the two-all draw at their favorite hunting ground.
The stalemate did not go down well with Una Una fans as they are viewing it as a humiliation on their doorstep.
Desire Masekesa, a Masvingo United fan said the late comeback by Grayham FC was evitable if coach ‘Hey days’ Faustina Mugeji shuffled the team during second half and replaced players who were no longer performing well due to injuries and tiredness.
“The coach should have replaced players who were no longer playing well. If he had done that I think we could have won this match.
“It was clearly visible that some of the players were tired during the last part of the match and others were limping due to injuries but the coach failed to field fresh players from the bench. We will end up thinking the coach is sabotaging other players,” said Masekesa.
Another supporter Takura Chivandire said the draw is a result of a lack of substitution by the coach during the second half.
“The coach is failing to substitute. If we take a look at this game, during second half the left-back and the mid-fielders were no longer performing well. The coach could have substituted,” said Chivandire.
In its previous match, Masvingo United lost two-nil away to log leaders GreenFuel before the recently ended mid-season break.
However, the fans said they still have hopes of playing in the Premier Soccer League and have encouraged the team to work harder so that they can clinch sponsorship deals.
Pardon Manzara said the team still has the opportunity to showcase that they are a PSL team.
“So far so good they still have time to book their ticket into PSL; they just need to improve a little bit. They are not in a bad position,” said Manzara.
Meanwhile their cross-town rivals FC Wangu Mazodze got the better of Renco Mine 2-1 in a fixture played at the same venue on Saturday.