Standard Bank battles on

The battle for the last four in the K20 million (about $67 000) Standard Bank Knockout Trophy continues this weekend.

If you believe in tales of comebacks, then pay attention to Blue Eagles match at Nankhaka against Silver Strikers today. Silver won the first leg 3-1.

If Eagles are banking on home-ground magic, then that could not be enough. They need more to fashion a 3-0 margin win and sneak through. Silver’s away record is not inspiring, but they just have too much depth and fire-power to be shackled out of this game.

“We still have to fight in the return leg. The players cannot afford to sit on their laurels and I do not expect them to fall in the trap of complacency. They can score two goals and qualify,” Silver assistant coach Itayi Nundwe noted.

In another quarter-final, a 1-1 draw against Escom United is surely not the result Mighty Wanderers’ stand-in coach Felix Fosco might have imagined. But then that is the unpredictable nature of cup games.

Nothing is guaranteed as the young and energetic Escom players try to salvage something from their horrible start to the campaign with a meeting against the Nomads who are expected to up their tempo today [Saturday].

Aico Maluwa and Kelvin Hang’anda have always showed the promise, but then they are up against an experienced Wanderers defence which Foster Namwela leads religiously.

Joseph Kamwendo’s creativity could decide this game, but the Nomads must not underestimate evergreen Noel Mkandawire’s threat.

Elsewhere, Moyale Barracks and Civo United drew 1-1 last week.

Big Bullets are one leg into the quarter-final, but then Epac have always been their bogey team. And the danger is that Bullets are playing away tomorrow against a side that is exciting to watch.

In Balaka last Saturday, Bullets had goalkeeper Owen Chaima’s heroics between the sticks to thank for the slender win. In netting the solitary strike, Gabadinho Mhango silenced Epac FC who had earlier insisted that the little genius never finds his form against the Lilongwe side. By dusk today, three teams would fall.