Silver win it
Substitute Chawanangwa Kaonga was the toast of the Pamtsetse Bonanza final when his goal scored in extra time inspired Silver Strikers to a victory over Mighty Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe yesterday.
The two teams played an entertaining game which had fans on their toes the whole 120 minutes.
The spectators, including Minister of Youth and Sports Richard Chimwendo Banda and several of his Cabinet colleagues had a rare treat despite no goals in regulation time.
Both teams created good chances to win the game in normal time although Silver had the most opportunities.
The busiest goalkeeper was Wanderers’ Pilirani Mapila, who made crucial saves to deny Silver forwards Frank Banda, Stain Davie and Duncan Nyoni.
Just after 18 minutes, his agility saw him stopping a Davie shot from outside the box.
In the 46th minute, Mapila again tamed a Banda header, drawing applause from the terraces.
Davie was unfortunate in the 68th minute when his header hit the post.
Two minutes later, Mapila again made a timely dive to his left to stop a Davie effort.
For the Nomads, Chiukepo Msowoya’s effort in the 29th minute was tamed by Silver goalkeeper Steve Micheta.
In the 52nd minute, a diagonal ball from Yamikani Chester stretched Silver defence and fell on the on-rushing Msowoya, but he shot wide.
A few minutes later, Chester messed up a good opportunity after being put through by Felix Zulu. Unmarked in the box, he shot straight into the palms of Micheta.
The game then went into extra time and Kaonga, who had replaced Frank Banda in the second half, scored the important goal from close range.
Wanderers’ Vincent Nyangulu was unfortunate not to equalise in the 113th minute after he shot over the bar.
Wanderers coach Eddington Ng’onamo praised his charges for a gallant fight despite the loss.
He said: “It is a painful loss, but the effort was there and the results could have been different had we utilised our chances. Despite the loss, we are moving the right direction.”
Silver assistant coach McDonald Yobe applauded the players effort
“Team work prevailed today. The players played as a unit. It was a good performance throughout. We were good in all departments,” he said.
In an earlier game, Nyasa Big Bullets beat Civo 2-0.
Yankho Singo and Babatunde Adepoju scored the two important goals in each half as Bullets finished third.
Nzika Flood Response organised the bonanza with funding from TNM plc and NBS Bank plc to raise money to assist flood survivors. They targetted to raise K50 million.
