Karonga United kept their survival hopes in their own hands after Antony Mfune and Victor Longo goals earned them a 2-0 win over Red Lions in a TNM Super League match played on Saturday.
The crocodiles who were needing the victory to kick start their season following 4 successive defeats in the league and cup matches were without their coach Christopher Nyambose after he was suspended by the club earlier in the week for disciplinary issues.
The match played at the soccer cathedral of Karonga stadium saw the two struggling sides start the proceeding on a cagey note wary of the recent thumping encountered by either side.
In a drub first 20 minutes which struggled to fire despite what was on the line Karonga United created two presentable opportunities that were fluffed by Shalief Chamama and William Mwalwimba.
Despite possessing the likes of Chikoti Chilwa and Mathews Simbeye in their side the Zomba based soldiers struggled to get behind a well disciplined Karonga defence.
In the 34th minute of the game the home side took a deserved led when Antony Mfune finished off a nice team move that was instigated by the impressive Victor Lungu from the halfway line.
In the second half the home side continued to pepper the lions defence with wave after wave of pressure but Mfune and chamama failed to add to the home sides dominance.
That red lions also needed the win to ease off relegation fears was not apparent in their second half display whilst Karonga bossed possession there was little energy from the visitors.
But the hosts kept pressing and ensured all the points in stoppage time with through Victor Lungu following a swift counter attack.
In a post match interview, Karonga team manager Kondwani Mwalweni hailed his teams performance to perform under pressure in a vital game.
“Our sole aim is to ensure we collect enough points as we possibly can to ensure our survival and if we can play like this in the remaining 4 games, I’m sure we will manage to collect the required points,” he said.
Red Lions coach Nelson Chirwa, while congratulating Karonga United’s victory, bemoaned his sides lackluster performance.
“We can perform better than we did today and we will have to pull our socks up as a lot of hard work is still ahead of us as we must win our remaining 4 games to preserve our super league status,” said a frustrated Chirwa.
Karonga United’s victory has lifted them up to 12th on the log table with 30 points from 26 matches while Red Lions have dropped into the relegation places with 28 points from the same number of matches.
