…as Dwangwa, Masters Security share spoils…
A hapless Be Forward Wanderers suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat to Blue Eagles in a TNM Super League match played at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Straight from their goalless draw to Mighty Tigers on Saturday, Dekrerk Msakakuona made only a single change bringing on board Maxwell Salambula for Foster Bitoni.
It was a timid start to the game with the first real opportunity falling the way of the visitors in the 14th minute when a pin-point cross from Gregory Nachipo picked out Micium Mhone who wasted no time by releasing a thunderbolt which was brilliantly saved by Richard Chipuwa in goals for the hosts.
Wanderers were struggling to settle down in the midfield as there was no coordination between Francisco Mkonda and Alfred Manyozo Jnr as a result, there were no chances created by the duo.
The striking partnership of Peter Katsonga and Misheck Botoman paid no dividends as the two were totally unmarked by Eagles’ defense of Steve Chagoma, Osward Maonga, Maxwell Munthali and Jacob Robert.
The visitors were dominating possession and they almost took the lead midway through the half-hour mark when Maxwell Salambula got onto the end of a low-left wing cross from Mhone, but the striker’ shot went just wide from 12-yards out.
The 3-5-2 formation made things worse for the Nomads as the visitors found it very easy to penetrate from the wings where Nachipo and Mhone were operating.
Wanderers lacked firepower and they had to substitute Katsonga for Adepoye Babatunde as they tried to improve their attacking prowess.
However, the two teams could only manage to finish the first half goalless.
In the second half, the home fans were stunned. A brilliant move from the middle of the pack to Nachipo caught Wanderers’ defense apart, allowing Salambula to fire at Chipuwa who made a brilliant save only to see the ball landing straight into Munthali’s path who made no mistake to put the ball into the net, 1-0.
It was five minutes of madness for the hosts as they conceded another goal in a similar fashion, this time around, failing to clear the ball away from the box to allow Nachipo to head past defenseless Chipuwa.
The second goal was a wakeup call to the Nomads as they brought in Richard Rabson and Francisco Madinga for Mike Kaziputa and Felix Zulu.
The change brought some rhythm into Wanderers’ attack and reduced the arrears minutes later through Botomani who notched the ball into the back of the net from a Richard’ corner.
However, the two goal cushion was restored seconds later when Wanderers defense was outsmarted by Eagle’s stunning hurricane counterattack that saw Schumaker Kuwali heading past Chipuwa who was at fault for misjudging the ball before landing into the box.
The hosts were given a lifeline when the referee awarded them a penalty following Maonga’s push on Zicco Mkanda inside the penalty box.
Mkanda stepped up only to see his effort well saved by the outstanding John Soko.
The Area 30 based side then brought in Vitumbiko Kumwenda for Nachipo to increase their attacking power and the new man in the field almost made an impact when his through ball found Kuwali unmarked but the forward blasted his effort away from Chipuwa’ goal line.
The Nomads were forced to finish the match with 10-men as Manyozo Jnr was taken off following an injury and the hosts had already made three substitutions, ending their hopes of making a comeback.
Wanderers threw players forward in the final five minutes but were unable to pull a goal back as Eagles held on for a 3-1 win.
The result sees the Area 30 based side climbing top of the standings with 11 points from five games while Wanderers have dropped to 12th position with 3 points from two games.
At Chitowe Stadium, it was a six-goal thriller as Dwangwa United and Masters Security played out to a 3-3 draw.
The hosts took a 2-0 lead before the break through Victor Harawa and Muhammad Biason but the visitors came back stronger in the second half through Mussa Manyenje, Amadu Makawa and Bernard Chimaimba.
Just when Abbas Makawa thought the match was going in their favor, Chitani Jusa leveled off in a dramatic fashion to deny them all the three points.
