DeMbare put their ten-month Rufaro unbeaten run on the line

DYNAMOS and CAPS United have not won the league championship in the TikTok years. 

But, after a dozen years of searching for a way back into the light, the Glamour Boys believe they could once again crack the title-winning code this season. 

And, after a decade of searching for a way back into the glory fields, the Green Machine believe this could be the year they return to the winners’ podium. 

DeMbare’s last championship came in 2014, the year they completed the four-peat under Kalisto Pasuwa.

And, since then, they have been fighting, and failing, to get back to the Promised Land. 

Makekepe’s last championship came in 2016. 

It was the year TikTok was developed in China but it was only introduced on the international stage in August 2018. Both giants are slowly embracing the modern way of doing business. 

We have seen them increasing their presence on such platforms like TikTok in their bid to boost their appeal among the youths. 

The two giants plunge into the latest Harare Derby at Rufaro on Sunday. 

DeMbare will put their 10-month unbeaten run at Rufaro, either in league or Cup matches, on the line on that day. 

The Glamour Boys have transformed their spiritual home into their fortress, in the past ten months, and are yet to lose a league or Cup game at Rufaro since August last year. 

They were hammered 0-5 by Scottland in the Castle Challenge Cup in March.

But that is just a season-opening ceremonial game, like the FA Charity Cup, whose records are not included in official matches. 

When you have a one-off match, which does not feature other clubs in the top-flight league, its results can’t be included in the results of other tournaments, or the championship race, which feature all the clubs. 

When one takes into account results of all-inclusive competitions, DeMbare’s record at the place they call home has been quite impressive in the past 10 months. 

Until Sunday, when they lost 1-2 to bogey side Chicken Inn, who completed back-to-back wins over the Glamour Boys in the league last season, DeMbare had not lost a match, either at home or away, in 10 months. 

That loss to the Gamecocks changed all that but DeMbare still have something to cling on to and defend — their impressive lengthy unbeaten record at home. 

Their last defeat at Rufaro came when they were beaten 0-2 by Herentals in a league match on July 5, last time. 

Since then, the Glamour Boys have played 15 league and cup matches at Rufaro, over a period of 10 months, and they are yet to lose a game at their spiritual home. 

Two of those matches were Chibuku Super Cup games against ZPC Kariba and Highlanders. 

Both games ended in draws but DeMbare held their nerve in the penalty shootout to progress and then win the tournament for the third time on the trot. 

Thirteen of the games have been league matches and Dynamos have won five and drawn the other eight games in the league. 

In total, in the 15 league and cup matches they have played, since that loss to the Students in July last year, the Glamour Boys have won five and drawn ten. 

One of those victories was a 1-0 win over CAPS United in a league match in which the Green Machine were the home side at Rufaro on September 29, last year. 

The two Harare giants struggled in the championship race last year and, at some point, found themselves battling relegation.

However, things have changed for the better, in the opening stages of this year’s championship race, and CAPS United will go into the Harare Derby as the leaders of the marathon. 

While the Glamour Boys have been unbeaten at Rufaro in the last ten months, Genesis Mangombe will be worried that they have only scored more than one goal in two matches during that run. 

They scored those goals against Bikita Minerals and Highlanders. 

Their favourite opposition, during that run, appears to have been MWOS as they beat Lloyd Mutasa’s men twice, with an identical 1-0 scoreline, in league games.