Harare — BIG defender Guthrie Zhokinyu rose from the bench to fire home a late equaliser to help a hastily-assembled Warriors force a draw against the Crocodiles in an international friendly at Barbourfields yesterday.

Zhokinyu has not seen any action in the second half of the Premiership season following complications that arose from his intended transfer from Shooting Stars to Dynamos.

But after starring for the Warriors during the African Nations Championships in Cote d'Ivoire earlier this year, coach Sunday Chidzambwa has kept faith in the defender.

Yesterday, Zhokinyu was introduced as a 46th minute substitute for Motor Action's Norman Njelele and he helped save the hosts the blushes when grabbing Zimbabwe's equaliser in the 80th minute.

Lesotho had taken a 31st minute lead from the penalty spot after Dynamos defender George Magariro had been adjudged by Bulawayo referee Thabani Mkantjo to have brought down the Crocodiles' Thapelo Tale.

Both teams called up rookies with a view of trying out new faces ahead of this year's Cosafa Senior Championships. But the ultimate goal for the two sides is to start a long process of building strong teams for the 2012 African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup.

There was little goalmouth action in the opening minutes, despite Zimbabwe forcing four corners inside 25 minutes. Lesotho goalkeeper Sam Ketsekile was called to duty in the sixth minute picking up a tame shot from Zephaniah Ngodzo before enduring boredom for the better part of the match with no attempts at goal at all.

The vistors then took the lead in the 31st minute from a penalty. Hard-to-beat Dynamos central defender Magariro brought down Tale and Thabo Masualle took the responsibility and had his first attempt at goal saved by Washington Arubi who appeared to move off his line before the kick.

The Bantu Rovers goalkeeper dived to his right to block the effort with his hands before catching the ball clean. An alert Cosmas Nyoni flagged for an infringement and Mnkantjo ordered a retake with Masualle sending Arubi the wrong way this time.

Zimbabwe dominated the exchanges with a good passing game in midfield and some good breaks by Phillip Marufu, Farai Vimisayi, Bruce Kangwa and Ramson Zhuwawo, who carved open the visitors' defence.

The hosts, however, appeared to be too elaborate in the final third and on two occasions Vimisai set up Marufu, Zhuwawo and Kangwa from the blind side, but the forwards were found wanting in their anticipation.

Gunners midfielder Zhuwawo, who together with Marufu were the stars of the day, nearly equalised for the Warriors in the 49th minute, but his stinger was saved by Ketsekile with the Crocodiles goalminder parrying the ball out for a corner.

It was a beautiful effort taken from about 40 metres out and worthy of a goal. Nine minutes later, Njube Sundowns midfielder Thabani Kamusoko had his stinger punched back into play by the Lesotho goalkeeper.

But as was the case earlier, his teammates Marufu and substitute striker Clive Kawinga of Eagles were caught flat-footed on the rebound and a chance to bring Zimbabwe level was lost.

Barely a minute later, it was time for speedy Dynamos forward Marufu to test the goalkeeper with a pile driver from inside the box, which Ketsekile did well to punch back into play and keep his side in the lead.

On 74 minutes, Kawinga shot wide from the blind side, connecting first time a good free-kick by the most threatening man on the field all afternoon, Marufu. Zimbabwe kept probing and their due reward eventually came six minutes later.

The hosts were awarded a free-kick. Marufu got behind the ball and sent another beauty, which was met with a firm header by Shooting Stars strongman Zhokinyu, who beat Ketsekile for the equaliser.

But poor anticipation was to be the Warriors' undoing again in the 88th minute, with Kawinga blowing a chance to put the hosts in the lead. Reuben Mhlanga sent a good cross from the left and with his marker a beaten man and a yawning goal in front of him, Kawinga was just too slow to react and prod the ball home.

But there was still time for the Warriors to fluff another chance when Dynamos' Wonder Sithole skied his effort from a promising position. He intercepted a pass up field just before the centre in the Lesotho half, burst towards the visitors' goal and let a screamer that missed the horizontal bar to ensure the visitors drive back content with a draw.

There was nothing to be disappointed about for both technical departments as their charges tried as hard as they could to impress.

Ngodzo of Highlanders and Dynamos' Mhlanga were rarely tested on the wings.

In the heart of defence, Njelele showed signs of being jittery and could have easily beaten his own 'keeper with a high back pass, but Arubi did well to control with his chest before clearing the ball.

Zhuwawo was the star of the midfield with Vimisai and Kamusoko adding grit when introduced in the second half. It was a good showing by the Zimbabwean team that never even trained together and many left convinced they still played better football than some recent Warriors sides.

There were a couple of constructive build-ups from the back through the midfield with most players comfortable on the ball. Lesotho, who brought seven players under the age of 22 with four 19-year-olds, look on course for the future under their Serbian mentor Zavisa Milosavljevic and his assistant Leslie Notsi.

At the end of the match, Warriors coach Chidzambwa's assistant Joey Antipas said they were impressed with the young team, in view of the fact that they had not trained together.

"We are happy with what we saw of the boys considering that they did not train as a team. They appeared to combine well," said Antipas.

His Lesotho counterpart Notsi was also impressed with the way his charges had gone about their business. "It was a good game, we liked the way our boys adapted to the game. Like Zimbabwe, we want to build for the future," said Notsi.

Chidzambwa said he had used the occasion to closely watch some of the new faces he called up. "I am happy with the result and the performance of the boys considering that the game was our first training session.

"Given time to train together, I think we could have won. We could have put away the chances we created. Most of the players in the team were new and I wanted to have a look at them. "Ramson (Zhuwawo), Dylan (Chivandire), Reuben (Mhlanga), Farai (Vimisai) and Bruce (Kangwa) are some of the new faces and I think they did well," Chidzambwa said.

Milosavljevic, who has decided to invest a lot in the youth, was also satisfied with his side's showing.

"I am happy with the performance because we played a good team and our boys were able to cope with the tempo. They showed us their experience since we are a young team and I think the future is good for us and them (Warriors).

"The reaction of the players was positive and we need to play more competitive games like the one we got today with higher ranked countries. The more we challenge higher ranked countries, the more we gain experience," Milosavljevic said.

Teams:

Zimbabwe: W. Arubi, Z. Ngodzo, R. Mhlanga, G. Magariro, N. Njelele (G. Zhokinyu 46th minute), C. Gomba (T. Kamusoko 46th minute), R. Zhuwawo (W. Katsande 70th minute), F. Vimisai (D. Chivandire 70th minute), B. Kangwa (W. Sithole 46th minute), L. Tsipa (C. Kawinga 39th minute), P. Marufu.

Lesotho: S. Ketsekile, T. Masualle, K. Sesinyi, N. Lerotholi, M. Marai, M. Lesesa, M. Lekoekoe, B. Molotsane, T. Tale, S. Muso (M. Marabe 76th minute), R. Mdoisane (N. Nyakhane 61st minute).

Zimbabwe(0) 1  Lesotho (1) 1