HARARE - Monomotapa coach Biggie Zuze believes playmaker Ronald Chitiyo’s injury cost his side’s chance of winning the Mbada Diamonds Cup on Saturday.

Chitiyo was stretched from the field early in the second half due to an ankle injury, which affected Monoz’s rhythm against Dynamos, who scored two second half goals through double-scorer Rodreck Mutuma to retain the country’s richest domestic football competition.

The diminutive midfielder was outstanding for Monomotapa throughout the season and is widely regarded as one of the finest players still plying their trade in the domestic Premiership.

“The injury completely destroyed my plans,” Zuze said after the match.

“You could see how we struggled in the middle of the park thereafter.”

In the match, Dynamos denied Monomotapa space and time to play their free-flowing attacking football, with the DeMbare captain Tawanda Muparati marking Chitiyo out of the game before he was substituted early in the second half. The moment the club’s star player caught the cold, the whole Monomotapa team sneezed and struggled the entire match.

“The majority of the team were playing in their first cup final and I believe stage fright was our biggest let down,” Zuze added.

“As a coach, I had higher expectations since it was also my first final, I’m happy with the second place though. We can only get better by playing more of these high class games.”