…as Dwangwa downs Chitipa United, Civil on song over Red Lions…
Mathews Sibale scored twice before being sent off to inspire Silver Strikers to a hard fought 2-1 victory over league leaders Be Forward Wanderers to close the gap to within two points in the standings.
Esau Kanyenda gave the visitors an early lead when Silver’s defense lost possession in their own half to allow the former Jomo Cosmos and Rostov FC winger to slot past Blessings Kameza in goals for the hosts.
Both teams had some key players missing due to international commitments.
The Nomads were on fire, with Kanyenda, Joseph Kamwendo and Rafick Namwera leading the assault in search for more goals but the Bankers defense was too smart to allow them from finding the back of the net again.
The Bankers pulled level in the 19th minute through Sibale when he headed past Richard Chipuwa from a Mike Robert million dollar cross.
The Area 47 giants almost doubled their lead just after the half hour mark but Chipuwa kept the Nomads in the game with a fine save.
Just when everybody thought the two teams will go into the half time break on level, Silver doubled their tally.
A free kick from Duncan Nyoni met Sibale in the box who rose up high in the sky to head past defenseless Chipuwa before kissing the back of the net, 2-1.
Come second half, the Bankers continued from where they stopped as Nyoni, Green Harawa and Sibale continued to press high as they looked to nail the results beyond Wanderers reach.
With 38 minutes to go, things got nasty when Sibale and Namwera were both sent off by referee Chidziwitso Simbi for exchanging blows in his presence.
Harawa and Nyoni were then taken off for Mike Teteh and Damiano Kunje while Yamikani Chester and Julius Kajembe came in for the Nomads.
Wanderers almost pulled level through Kamwendo whose thunderbolt was well saved by Kameza.
At the other end, Teteh failed to score past Chipuwa in a one to one situation when he was set through by Timothy Chitedze but the Ghananian blasted his shot wide and after 90 minutes of play, 2-1 it ended in favor of the Bankers.
The result sees Silver Strikers closing the gap to 42 points from 20 games while Wanderers are still top of the standings with 44 points from 19 games.
At Chitowe Stadium, Patrick Macheso and Jack Chiona scored in each half to inspire Dwangwa United to a comfortable 2-0 victory over struggling Chitipa United to keep their hopes of surviving from the chop alive.
The result means Dwangwa have 22 points from 20 games but are still in the drop zone due to inferior goal difference.
At Balaka Stadium, ten man Civil Sporting Club piled more misery on Red Lions with a hard fought 1-0 victory courtesy of a first half strike from the spot by Joseph Kachule.
