Civo United were the better side, created more chances and deservedly beat visiting Moyale Barracks 1-0 on Saturday at Civo Stadium.
This was Civo’s second victory after they also beat Moyale 1-0 in the first round of the league. Civo also ousted Moyale from the Standard Bank Knockout Trophy last month.
The two teams have played four times within six months.
Moyale had lethargic performance as their key players Crispin Fukizi, Gastin Simkonda, Deus Nkuta and captain Lameck Thindwa failed to tick.
The fact that Moyale held Civo up to half-time was because of wastefulness on the part of the home team.
Moyale coach Nicholas Mhango admitted in a post-match brief that his boys did not stick to the game plan.
“They (players) did not play according to plan. It was frustrating and they (Civo) deserved to win,†said Mhango.
Civo scored just two minutes after resumption through defender John Lanjesi who utilised a melee in Moyale box.
It got worse for Moyale when Thindwa was red-carded by referee Jones Makuwira after stomping on Civo’s Martin Masoatheka in an off-ball incident.
In evidence of plan gone bad, Mhango had to remove Ernest Zimba, who had come in as a substitute 12 minutes earlier.
Afterwards, Civo were all over Moyale, but lack of finishing from Lawrence Mwehiwa and Dan Katunga denied them more goals whereas good goalkeeping from MacDonald Harawa saved Moyale from embarrassment.
“It is unfortunate that we fail to score despite the numerous chances we create. This has been a trend this season. The result of the game today did not reflect our input. We could have scored more and won comfortably,†said Masanjala.
Civo now have 25 points from 16 games whereas Moyale have 15 points from 15 games.
