Silver leave BB in tears

Disjointed marking. Slow thinking. Terrible wastage. Bad attitude. All these rolled into one left Big Bullets at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday crumbling 3-1 like a deck of cards.

It was an unbelievable loss for Bullets considering that Silver are also in a crisis especially at the back where they are thin on defenders and porous.

The Bankers featured only one conventional defender Mavuto Khozomba. The rest, Young Chimodzi Junior and Dave Moya were improvised at the back.

With that second home league defeat and the third of the season, Bullets coach Eddington Ng’onamo was as shocked as the team’s supporters that banged gates and walls leading to the dressing room.

Bullets players were lucky to get home in one piece after this last first round match that left them clinging to the fifth position on 23 points. Silver jumped from ninth to seventh on 22 points, seven points shy of leaders Kamuzu Barracks.

“It’s hard to admit, but we have been beaten clean. I am not happy. The attitude of the players was bad. They belittled their counterparts. Our finishing was below par,” Ng’onamo summed up the last first-round league game.

For Silver, it was all a peaceful return to the capital city where the crisis talk has certainly been shelved. And it appears that with this emphatic first-round finish, caretaker coach Stain Chirwa might have done enough to earn a full-time job.

“Our tactics were spot on. We told the players that Bullets beat us at their home so let us go and beat them this time around. We trained hard on tactics and it paid off,” said Chirwa who stepped in for suspended Frank ‘Franco’ Ndawa.

Minus suspended Sankhani Mkandawire, Bullets defence lacked an intimidating physical presence.

Blessings Tembo headed in from a 15th minute corner-kick which Bullets goalkeeper Owen Chaima dropped.

A few minutes later, Chaima made amends when he rushed to block Rodrick Gonani. Soon, the first half was over. And there was still Bullets hope.

Bullets attacked but lacked creativity and penetration in midfield and sharpness upfront. All this was summed up by Dalitso Sailesi and Chimango Kaira who kicked their heels and the air instead of simply connecting a free square ball.

In fact, with such an inviting ball, missing seemed the more difficult thing than scoring.

Heston Munthali and Fischer Kondowe made their way onto the pitch replacing Brown Mizeye and James Chilapondwa, but it only got worse.

Either Gonani or Jester Mulima were always unmarked while Green Harawa did not mind taking on defenders. Once they stretched the Bullets defence, they switched the ball high to the right.

Mulima headed freely into the net from the far post. Henry Kabichi replied with a cheeky free-kick goal that rendered impressive Flames first-choice goalkeeper Charles Swini a helpless spectator between the sticks.

But that was about it for Bullets. Harawa sliced through the Bullets defence, picked Gonani wide on the right from where he curved the ball over the defence to the left where Ndaziona Chatsalira could not believe his luck.

He controlled the ball, looked up fearing for an off-side flag before gracefully and powerfully driving his low shot into the net. Game over.

Also winding up the first round were Blue Eagles who lost 2-1 to Mafco at Chitowe Stadium.

Eagles finished fourth on 24 points while Mighty Wanderers remained second.

Mafco finished on 11th with 16 points.