The central region football power house Silver Strikers, the Bankers, as they are fondly known have proved that they are the giants of the central region after beating Nyasa Big Bullets by 3 goals to two in a game played before a sizieable crowd at the new football arena, Bingu National Stadium on Saturday.
With both teams fielding largely a 2nd string side, there were fears that the game would be a farce but the two giants proved doubters wrong by putting up a fabulous display befitting any clash between rivals, especially in the 2nd half.
In the first 25minutes, Bullets were the more aggressive although save for hitting the under belly of the cross bar, they didn’t shoot accurately on goal as such.
From no-where, Silver who suffered big-time from multiple midfield deficiencies, drew first blood on the dot of 45+1minutes.
The Bankers commenced the 2nd half from where they left off when they capitalized on a defensive mix up to go 2-0. Bullets were now reeling on the back foot. As the match progressed Silver developed complacency, a thing that allowed Bullets to crawl back into it.
Within a spell of 10minutes past the midpoint of the 2nd half Bullets scored twice to level matters causing Silver to panic. And moments after pulling even, drama unfolded.
With Bullets committing too many men upfront and pressing high to finish off the job, it just took Silver a simple touch to put through Uchizi Vunga who kept his cool to slot the winner low past the keeper. The spirit of the match was quite good.
Both teams played to win and they each demonstrated nice gamesmanship. The officiating was of high quality just like the standard of the game itself.
Congratulations Silver for edging rivals to avenge a Kamuzu Day commemoration 1-0 loss at Civo Stadium in a similar match up a couple of months ago.
