Red lions end silver’s unbeaten record
T
hey were the first to end Silver Strikers’ unbeaten record in all competitions when they booted the bankers out of the Carlsberg Cup with a 1-0 victory at Balaka Stadium.
Malawi Defence Force (MDF) outfit Red Lions on Sunday repeated the feat with the same score line and at the same venue, to become the first team to beat the Bankers in 2017 TNM Super League season.
Defender Chimwemwe Chidati is responsible for Silver’s misery after scoring the lone goal of the match.
But the beneficiary of the soldiers’ heroics are Nyasa Big Bullets, who edged Blue Eagles 3-0 at Chilomoni Stadium in Blantyre.
Bullets have since dislodged Silver on second position with 47 points while the Bankers, who drew against Blantyre United on Saturday, are third with 46 points.
After a goalless second-half, Bullets ignited in the second-half, scoring two quick goals through Emmanuel Zoya and Chiukepo Msowoya within three minutes, before Bright Munthali made it 3-0 in the dying minutes.
In Mzuzu, leaders Be Forward Wanderers recovered from their embarrassing draw against Chitipa United and vented their anger on Moyale Barracks, beating the MDF side 3-1 at Mzuzu Stadium.
With memories of how they missed several scoring opportunities in the match against Chitipa at Karonga Stadium on Saturday, the Nomads were clinical in their finishing, no wonder they scored three goals to move to 54 points.
Up-and-coming left-back Precious Sambani open the score sheet before Esau Kanyenda netted his seventh league goal since joining Wanderers.
Chamveka Gwetsani pulled one back for Moyale as the first-half ended 2-1.
The Nomads scored the third through Khumbo Ng’ambi just after recess, putting the game beyond the soldiers.
“It’s an important result. This is the team that booted us out of the Fisd Challenge Cup. But all in all, every game is important to win,” said Wanderers coach Yasin Osman after the match.
Moyale coach Nicholas Mhango blamed poor goalkeeping for the loss.
“The performance was good, but I blame the goalkeeper for those three goals,” he said.
As the goals were raining in Mzuzu and Blantyre, Silver were left searching for answers as their unbeaten run came to an end.
The victory is bad news for Silver Strikers who seem to be slowly surrendering the battle for the championship.
The Bankers have to sweat to get back to the second position since Bullets have a game in hand having played 22 games.
In other matches played yesterday, Mafco stunned Mzuzu University (Mzuni) 2-1 at Chitowe. Masters Security also collected maximum points after eating Dwangwa United 2-0 at Dedza Stadium.
