Mlatho Mponela started life in the TNM Super League with a home defeat, but two other newcomers Ntopwa FC and Chitipa United held on to their nerves to get a point each with goalless draws.
Mponela suffered 0-3 loss to Lilongwe-based Civil Sporting Club at Kasungu Stadium and they added salt to their injury when their defender Andrew Biya got the 2019 season’s first red card for foul play.
Civil got their first three points courtesy of Lucky Mdezo’s brace and an Isaac Msiska strike.
Nevertheless, Mlatho coach Eddie Ng’onamo said they will recover from the loss.
“It was only our first game and most of our players had stage fright, but we will recover,” he said.
At Karonga Stadium, Chitipa forced a goalless draw against Silver Strikers to prevent the Central Bankers from returning to their Lilongwe base with maximum points in two away games following a 1-0 win over Karonga United the previous day.
Nevertheless, the draw has helped Silver to displace Be Forward Wanderers from the summit of the 16-team log table as they have four points against Wanderers’ three.
At Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, Ntopwa wasted a lot of scoring opportunities to allow Mzuni FC return home with a point from two outings at the weekend. On Saturday, Wanderers demolished Mzuni 5-0.
Ntopwa coach Leo Mpulula admitted they could have easily bagged their first full points in their Super League debut had they not been wasteful.
“We had a lot of chances but we could not turn them into goals. We could get balls in the box but nobody could ably finish the job. We will work hard to polish up our striking force,” he said.
His Mzuni counterpart Gilbert Chirwa said his charges could not tick in yesterday’s game as they were demoralised by their heavy loss to Wanderers on Saturday.
“Most of our new players need time to settle and gain mental strength in the elite league. We will do better in the coming games,” he said.
In other games, Mighty Tigers came from behind to beat their hosts Dwangwa United 2-1 and move to the second place on the log table as they are tied on four points with Silver.
At Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe, Blue Eagles put home ground advantage to good use as they beat visitors Moyale Barracks 2-1. They scored through Henry Misinjo and Micium Mhone while Moyale got a consolation through Deus Mkutu. n
