Dynamos coach Aristica Cioaba has dedicated his side’s narrow 1-0 win over Herentals College to club chairman Bernard Marriott, revealing how the businessman’s pre-match intervention helped lift the team ahead of the crucial Harare derby.
The Glamour Boys secured a vital three points at Rufaro Stadium yesterday through Frank Agyemang’s 25th-minute strike, a result that lifted Dynamos into the top three with 50 points from 29 matches.
But for Cioaba, the significance of the victory went beyond the points, as he credited Marriott for addressing the players on the eve of the match and providing what he described as an important morale boost.
“Yesterday, he came and gave one clear message for us. He gave the morale for us and this is good for us,” Cioaba said after the match.
The Romanian coach said the support from the club’s leadership had given the players renewed belief at a critical stage of the season.
“Our sponsor already, I talked before, gives us all the condition, what is needed. But you know, I need more play at all in this moment,” he said.
Cioaba acknowledged that the pressure of the title race and the team’s inconsistent campaign had placed a greater responsibility on him to keep the players motivated and focused.
“The morale is good coming up about this week, the game. But this week only me, I understand the situation and only me, I am in the front from the player to the motivation, to the player coming up, to the player trust,” he said.
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He praised his players for responding positively and urged them to maintain their unity as the league enters its decisive phase.
“From this, more congratulations to the player and let’s stay together and focus from game to game,” Cioaba added.
The victory was particularly significant given the circumstances of the derby, with Dynamos reduced to 10 men but still managing to protect their narrow advantage until the final whistle.
Herentals coach Paul Benza admitted afterwards that his side had missed opportunities to take control of the match and blamed their own mistakes for the defeat.
“The game was more of us losing to ourselves. We got a lot of chances and we were supposed to bury the game in the first minutes,” Benza said.
He also described the goal conceded by his team as a costly error that ultimately decided the contest.
For Dynamos, the focus now shifts to maintaining the momentum generated by yesterday’s victory.
The Glamour Boys moved ahead of Herentals, who remain on 48 points from 29 matches, with the battle for the leading positions tightening as the season approaches its climax.
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