Nomads, Silver seek to bounce back
Be Forward Wanderers host Airborne Rangers at Kalulu Stadium today desperate to slash TNM Super League leaders’ Big Bullets’ tally to two points and ease pressure on the Nomads coach Elia Kananji.
The challenge for Kananji is that even a win against the ninth-placed Rangers will be treated as trivia following straight 0-2 and 1-2 losses to Silver Strikers and the Bullets in the last two weeks.
Wanderers’ technical committee chair Mike Butao has told Kananji and the technical panel that losing to rivals in the league race was unacceptable.
Placed second on 21 points from 11 games, five points adrift of rivals Bullets, the Nomads are desperate for a first league title since 2006.
“We are able to create many scoring chances, but the problem is finishing. And this is what we have been focusing on in training. It’s not like I am happy losing. Nobody is. Such things happen in football,” Kananji noted.
In the mid-week Carlsberg Cup game against Max Bullets, Wanderers won 2-1 at the same venue, whereas Rangers lost 4-3 on post-match penalties to minnows Ndirande Icons to bow out of the cup.
The gulf in class between Wanderers and Rangers is evidenced by the 14-point gap that separates them. Rangers experienced a bitter-sweet week when they ended Blue Eagles’ league unbeaten run on Saturday.
Such mixed fortunes have left Rangers’ coach Kondwani Gawani not overly satisfied by his men who have 12 points from 11 games.
“The aim is to try and win the remaining three first-round games, but then we know Wanderers will come in full force as they too are smarting from defeats,” Gawani said yesterday.
While the availability of Wanderers striker Muhamad Sulumba, winger Isaac Kaliyati and left-back Francis Mlimbika is doubtful for the game due to their Flames’ involvement, Rangers have a near-full strength battalion.
“It is only Wongani Wandawanda and Rosicky Ibrahim who are not yet fully back on their feet, but we have other attacking options in strikers Sam Banda and Asedi Ayami,” Gawani added.
In Lilongwe, Eagles coach De Klerk Msakakuona will be without regulars Phillip Masiye, Micium Mhone and captain John Banda when travelling to Silver.
A point separate the third-positioned Eagles from Silver who have 19 points from 12 games and have played a game more than the cops. The Bankers too are recovering from a 2-0 Lilongwe derby defeat by Civo United last Sunday.
“We both play a passing game and the distance from Area 47 to 30 is small; hence, this makes our meeting so tough,” Msakakuona said yesterday.
His Silver counterpart Stein Chirwa was not readily available, but acting general secretary Fred Kalonga has not hidden the collective displeasure in the team’s inconsistent form. Silver will also likely be starved of the services of captain Lucky Malata and striker Green Harawa who are in Flames camp.
