was a good workout for both teams ahead of their Champions League first leg matches slated for this weekend.
The Mighty Bulls, who are taking part in the Champions League competition for the first time this year, will host former African champions Asec Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire at Rufaro on Saturday while Dynamos have a date against Algerian side MC Alger at the same venue 24 hours later.
Antipas, whose side sneaked into the first round after winning a penalty shootout against Cnaps Sports of Madagascar last month, watched his side fall to the Harare rivals in a similar manner when their match had ended tied 2-2 after extra time at Rufaro.
The match, whose proceeds will be channelled towards charity, raked in a gross total of about US$55 000.
Figures from the Premier Soccer League office indicated that 15 731 people paid to watch the game and a net total of US$30 000 was realised after deductions and levies.
Dynamos fielded a second string side and got their goals from Murape Murape and Timire Mamvura who converted from the spot while Motor Action found the target through Enasio Perezo and Masimba Mambare.
DeMbare went on to win the match 4-1 on penalties after goalkeeper Washington Arubi saved two of the Mighty Bulls penalties.
But Antipas said the Mighty Bulls have put the defeat behind them and are now looking forward to the more challenging assignments ahead of them.
“We still have more work to do. It was a good preparation for us, though, considering that we have a crucial game against Asec coming up this weekend.
“I think we played well. Unfortunately we lost the game through a penalty lottery but we have to work on our positives and move on from there.
“It appears we were quite strong in attack and we had Dynamos under control in the second half but we couldn’t utilise the advantage.
“At least we now have a picture of how our first XI should be but we need to work on our midfield and our defence because we could have avoided those goals we conceded,” said Antipas.
Motor Action strikers Kuda Musharu and Enasio Perezo had a commendable showing against a hesitant DeMbare defence which included Guthrie Zhokinyi and newboy Vimbai Madamombe who appeared nervous on debut.
Mutasa justified his decision to make wholesale changes but his experimental side appeared lost in the system, as they could not stitch together meaningful passes the entire match with only flashes from individuals like Farai Vimisayi, Dominic Benati and second half substitutes Thomas Magorimbo and Nicholas Alifandika.
Antipas, however, said he had expected Dynamos coach Mutasa to field their strongest team built around the likes of Archieford Gutu, Devon Chafa, Denver Mukamba, Rodrick Mutuma and David Kutyauripo but were taken aback to see a virtually new team on the field.
The Mighty Bulls, however, could not fare any better although they had the better of the exchanges especially after the introduction of Edmore Chitato in the second half.
“We need to polish up some areas.
“Both teams benefited from this work out and for Dynamos they showed that they have depth,” said Antipas.
DeMbare coach Lloyd Mutasa said the match afforded the technical side a chance to look into his reserves, as he rested entire team that started in their previous assignments against Highlanders and CAPS United.
“This is only the beginning. If we keep working hard we can achieve great things with this team. We decided to give these players a chance because we wanted to see how everyone in or books fares.
“In fact, this team dominated during our practice sessions last week and inasmuch as we had wanted to field the best, the coaching department saw it fit to give them a run,” said Mutasa.

You Might Also Like

Comments