Nomads keep wandering forward

…Silver, Masters Security share a point apiece, Chitipa United humbled

It was a temperamental match as a red card was flashed and two penalties were given against Red Lions but at the end Be Forward Wanderers maintained their lead in the Super League over second placed Moyale Barracks after recording a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Zomba based Soldiers at Balaka Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Before the match, the two teams were just separated by a point, with the Nomads leading on the standings following their good start to the season.

MacPeter Makwale gave the visitors a lead just after three minutes with a wonderful solo before Yamikani Chester’s powerful drive from outside the penalty box put the match on level before the half hour mark.

However, it was the Soldiers who aroused the tempo of the match when Makwale released a powerful shot with just meters away from the penalty box to beat Richard Chipuwa in goals for the Nomads who conceded for the first time in six league matches, 1-0.

From there, the league leaders increased their tempo as they searched for the equalizer and their wish was granted in the 22^nd minute when Chester’s powerful shot was misjudged by goalkeeper Jacob Kaunda into the back of the net, 1-1.

Wanderers were coming wave after wave as Felix Zulu, Joseph Kamwendo and Chester tormented the visitors’ defence but putting the ball into the back of the net for the second goal proved too difficult for the hosts.

Chester was at it again, this time around, whipping his low cross drive into the penalty box only to see Precious Msosa missing the ball with only the goalkeeper to beat.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Chikoti Chirwa saw his powerful shot missing the goalmouth with an inch as Chipuwa was left grounded in the line of duty.

The first half ended 1-all.

In the second half, it only took 9 minutes for the match to be surrounded with controversies when referee John Phiri awarded Wanderers a penalty five minutes after missing the incident that occurred inside Red Lions’ penalty box.

At first, the visitors thought the referee had given them a go ahead to resume play when one of the Nomads players was lying down in the D-zone.

It took five minutes for Phiri to award Wanderers the spot kick, a decision which did not go well with the Soldiers who protested before allowing the play to continue from the penalty spot.

Kamwendo stepped up and slotted past Kaunda to make it 2-1 in the Nomads’ favour.

Minutes later, a red card was flashed to a Lions’ player.

Innocent Mwamulima’s push on Kamwendo was noticed by the referee who warned him to refrain from repeating the offence but instead of walking out of the scene, he foul mouthed the man in black who wasted no time by giving him the marching orders to reduce the visitors to ten men with plenty of time left on the clock to play.

Playing with one man down proved too costly as the soldiers were now forced to sit at the back in order to prevent the Nomads from running riot as they kept on pressing harder in search for more goals.

Just when everybody thought the first penalty was enough, Phiri was at it again when he awarded Wanderers another spot kick.

According to the central referee, Lions’ defender handled the ball when he was trying to make a clearance from Zulu’s cross.

Just like the first penalty, Kamwendo stepped up but he was unable to beat Kaunda who produced a fine save to maintain the game at 2-1.

With less than 15 minutes to play, the Soldiers almost snatched something out of the game when Chipuwa left his line of duty, giving Makwale all the opportunity to double his tally but his shot went agonizingly wide to the disappointment of his Coach Mike Kumanga who was already up from his seat ready for celebration.

The remaining minutes produced no goals as Wanderers held on to collect their fifth win of the season and maintain their lead at the top from seven games played so far.

However, their defensive record of not conceding in the opening six matches was ended by Makwale’s first half goal but they left the stadium on a high as they collected all the important points out of the crucial game.

The defeat sees Red Lions stuck on third position with 15 points from nine games they have played in the ongoing 2017 Super League season.

In other league matches, Silver Strikers survived Masters Security’s scare when they needed a late equalizer from Michael Tetteh to cancel out a Vincent Nyangulu’s first half strike.

The two teams shared one point a piece, with Silver yet to find their rhythm.

So far, the Central Bankers have played 7 games from which they have only managed to collect 11 points and they are occupying position eight.

As for the rookies, they are just a point above the drop zone with 9 points from nine games as well.

At Nankhaka Stadium, a brace from John Junior Malidadi inspired Blue Eagles to a comfortable 3-nil victory over relegation threatened Chitipa United with the other goal coming from Maxwell Salambula.

It was a match in which the visitors saw a red card when Aubrey Chirambo was red carded.

This was Chitipa’s second loss in 24 hours following another heavy 4-2 defeat to Civil Sporting Club on Saturday.

The latest defeat leaves them bottom of the standings with 4 points from ten games.

As for Eagles, they have now climbed up to third on the standings with 16 points from ten games.