Surestream bite Cobbe
Surestream Academy revealed the brutal side to their beautiful game with a battling come-from-behind display that battered second-placed Cobbe Barracks 2-1 into submission at a rain-soaked Chiwembe Technical Centre ground on Sunday.
The win that atoned for a first-round loss to Cobbe in the the Southern Region Football Association Premier Division enabled Surestream to restore their four-point cushion on the 23-member league with 89 points from 36 games whereas Cobbe have 85 points from 27 games.
Before the party in the rain, Surestream had to endure a storm. Cobbe, with their first sniff of the ball, surged ahead in every sense of the word after two minutes through exciting MacPeter Makwale. Surestream had strung some 10 uninterrupted passes in their own half as Cobbe players, including strikers Luke Muyawa and Isaac Vizyalona retreated and chased their shadows.
Suddenly, the complexion of the game transformed like a deceptive chameleon when Muyawa, formerly of Flames and Big Bullets, intercepted a loose ball, laid onto the path of Makwale who, from range, found his angle and a gap on the left of uncharacteristically badly positioned and flat-footed Brightone Munthali to sweep the ball into the net. Surestream and their many sympathisers were stunned into depressed silence.
Cobbe were content behind second-best on the ball as they mounted three defensive lines which Surestream, industrious, enterprising and entertaining with a left-and-right switch of delightful passes, struggled to penetrate with the likes of Ernest Tambe, Mike Nkwate, Peter Msowoya and Bernard Chimaimba frustrated.
Cobbe held on to their slender lead at half-time. Come the last-half, Surestream stepped up the tempo with pressing, rough tackling and powerful shots from range. Muyawa more than once received the mob justice with a flying tackle that left him on his back. Surestream later found their right attacking gear when the clever-footed Isaac Mwale stepped in for subdued Tambe.
Mwale’s penetrative runs paid dividends. Surestream finally found their way when a ball was whipped from the left into the crowned penalty box and like a thief, Msowoya sneaked his leg to score.
Cobbe responded with a whirlwind of attacks that yielded corner kicks and not goals.
Vizyalona was too casual with his headers off corners and the visitors’ comeback hopes were shattered when a powerful free kick grazed the post, danced back onto the pitch for Edwin Carlos to stab the ball into the net and into the festering wounds of Cobbe.
The visitors greeted the final whistle by descending on referee Ishmael Chizinga with some players seen manhandling the man, who in all fairness was not as bad. However, Muyawa felt otherwise.
“Every decision went against us. He flashed cards to our players and that affected our play.
“The referee decided the outcome of the game. But we are not giving up the title chase. We used to trail then by 11 points and four points is not much,” said Muyawa.
Surestream coach Abel Mkandawire could afford a smile, noting that his charges “gave in more than 100 percent and followed instructions to the letter”.
SRFA have since opened investigations over the beating up of the referee.
