Soldiers fall out!
After winning five games at home in succession, Moyale Barracks Football Club tasted a painful 0-1 defeat against regional rivals Karonga United on Saturday at Mzuzu Stadium in the Pokopoko TNM Super League.
The two sides went down to serious business the moment referee Misheck Juba blew the very first whistle.
In the first fifteen minutes, the Lions of Kaning’ina had their own moments of pressurising the visitors’ defence and the Crocodiles of Karonga also put the Moyale defence marshalled by Alisten Black under intense pressure.
The soldiers’ pressure on the visitors resulted in a serious injury for first choice goalkeeper Lloyd Munthali who had to be immediately replaced by Happy Msowoya in the 20th minute.
The two sides went for recess with the scoreboard reading 0-0.
In the 66th minute, Khumbo Msowoya for Karonga United beat three Moyale Barracks defenders but his powerful shot was ably saved by goalkeeper Olise Nkhwazi.
A minute later, the soldiers replied with their own dangerous wave of attack as captain of the side, Lloyd Njaliwa, eliminated two Karonga United players in front of their goal but his thunderbolt was blocked denying him a vital goal for the soldiers.
It was in the 70th minute when Clement Nyondo for Karonga United raced for a through ball and chipped the ball past goalkeeper Olise Nkhwazi into the net to send travelling Karonga United fans into an irresistible frenzy.
Nine minutes later, Misheck Selemani was given another decent through ball and when Karonga United fans thought he was going to gift them a second goal, alone with only the goalkeeper to beat, he blasted the ball far high over the cross bar. 1 nil it ended in favour of the Crocodiles of Karonga.
Chrispin Mhangana for Karonga United was voted man of the match.
Speaking to Nyasa Times after the match, Karonga United coach, Dan Dzimkambani, said it was a sweet victory but well fought for.
“Our boys worked hard and it’s not surprising that we have collected three points. The players forgot all the problems they have and worked hard to win the game. We hope to continue doing well in the forthcoming games,” remarked Dzimkambani.
Assistant coach for Moyale Barracks, Prichard Mwansa, said it was a painful loss.
“We lost our touch and shape especially in the second half. We didn’t play as a team. We made a lot of mistakes and when you make a lot of mistakes, you get punished,” he said.
Karonga United is now on position 9 with 33 points from 25 games while Moyale Barracks is on position 8 with 34 points from 24 games.
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