Silver still in command
Mighty Wanderers escorted Escom United to the drop zone with a 3-0 routing in Blantyre while Silver Striker put up a five-star performance to comprehensively beat Blantyre United 5-0 in Lilongwe.
United were the first to threaten Silver, dominating the opening 10 minutes, but their marksman Sparrow Msiska could not find the target after excellent defensive work from Lack Malata.
Slowly but steadily the hosts settled and started playing some fluid passing game and easily broke United defence.
Rodrick Gonani, who had a hat-trick on the day, put Silver ahead 12 minutes into the game. He added the second in the 40th minute to give hope to the Silver fans who were wary of United threat.
They deservedly got the third goal through workhorse Frank Banda who was influential in the midfield. A couple of minutes later, Gonani scored his third when he rushed into a long pass from Malata to tap the ball over United goalie.
Banda made up for an earlier miss when he scored from the edge of the 18 yard box to make it 5-0.
At Kamuzu Stadium, the Nomads kept a firm grip on the fourth position on 45 points from 26 games with Victor Mpinganjira scoring a brace and Gerald Phiri grabbing the other against the relegated Escom. The Electricians remain second from bottom on 19 points from 26 games.
Victor, who has now scored in four consecutive appearances, smashed his shot into the underside of the bar, then into the net of inexperienced Escom goalkeeper Asani Kazembe in the 18th minute.
On the other end, Escom’s Aicko Maluwa failed to slot the ball past advancing Wanderers goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa.
Then on the 37th minute, Victor headed his second, doing justice to Mike Kaziputa’s cut back on the left after an inviting Phiri cross from the right corner flag.
In the second half, Escom substituted Kondwani Gawani and Maluwa for Lawrence Milanzi and Noel Mkandawire but scoring proved difficult. In the 60th minute, Phiri then dived to tap in at the far post, getting to the end of Kaziputa’s left cross.
In post match interview, Wanderers deputy coach Albert Mpinganjira said: “Our aim is to win all the remaining games and finish on a high.”
The Bankers are in the driving seat with 54 points from 25 games. They just need six points to retain the title for the third consecutive year. Big Bullets are second on 52 points from 26 games while Blantyre United remain third on 48 points from a similar number of games. Silver’s maximum tally is 63 points while Bullets and Blantyre can only get as far as 54 and 58 points, respectively.
In another game, Red Lions and Kamuzu Barracks (KB) shared the spoils 1-1. The Lions remain fifth on 43 points from 26 games as KB occupy 12th position on 33 points.
