Malawi under-20 on Wednesday started their Cosafa campaign with a narrow 3-2 win over Swaziland in their Group A opener at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe, Zambia.
A brace from PremierBet Wizards midfielder, Patrick Phiri, earned the Junior Flames maximum points after Griffin Young Stars attacking midfielder Peter Banda opened the score line in the seventh minute.
A powerful shot from Banda past the Swazi keeper was enough to ensure Malawi went on the break with a one goal lead.
The Junior Swazi side equalised early in the second half with Muzi Tsabedze’s strike.
Malawi regained the lead twice with the brace from PremierBet Wizards midfielder Patrick Phiri’s (59, 68) sandwiching Swazi captain Gamedze Saviola’s equaliser from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.
The result means the flames have already improved on their showing at the previous Cosafa Under-20 tournament in South Africa where they failed to win any of their three games (losing twice and drawing once) conceding 4 goals without hitting the net even once.
Look out for more analysis on this game in tomorrow’s The Nation newspaper.
