HARARE - Dynamos had the Lesotho Football Association to thank after the host federation bankrolled their Monday night accommodation in Maseru after the Zimbabweans were left stranded in the Maseru capital after missing their flight to Johannesburg.

DeMbare touched down at Harare international Airport yesterday in three batches after a comical gaffe left them with egg on the face.

The Glamour Boys missed their flight from Maseru’s Moshoeshoe 1 International Airport after the squad insisted on having lunch at their hotel before boarding the bus to the airport.

The team’s failure to board their 2:45pm flight to Johannesburg, where they were expected to connect to Harare in the evening, unfolded in dramatic and comical fashion.

But fortunately at the time of missing their flight, the Glamour boys had only stayed four days in Lesotho.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) stipulates that the hosting FA should shelter the travelling team for up five days.

The team of officials, players and coaches only arrived at the Maseru airport at 2:30pm with the boarding gates, regulated to close 20 minutes before the 2:45 pm boarding time, already shut.

The team’s late arrival meant South African Airlink travelled to Johannesburg’s O R Tambo International Airport with 29 empty seats, leaving Dynamos to pay for the cancellation fees for the team.

DeMbare’s failure to catch their flight might not have had much impact on their already strained coffers, but it certainly dented the club’s organisational capacity and was an experience they would want to forget quickly.