Twimepoki Mangani
Lilongwe August 26 Mana: Relegation threatened, Extreme Football Club survived the fangs of Silver Strikers as they frustrated the Bankers to a goalless stalemate on Friday at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Extreme FC carried over confidence from their previous outing in the TNM Super League when they defeated MAFCO FC while Striker Strikers were coming from back to back loses to Red Lions and Bangwe All Stars respectively.
In the first 19 minutes Extreme, were the more composed side as they immediately launched attempts to crack the Silver Strikers defense.
The hosts Strikers, would hold back and take all the counter attacking chances as the game grew on. Adiel Kaduya came close to scoring, when he received a delicious pass from Uchizi Vunga however his effort went straight to the keeper.
Two minutes later, Kaduya was on the end of Emmanuel Muyira’s set piece but once again the chance was put to waste.
In the second period, Silver Strikers continued to mount pressure on the visitors. The 59th minute was crucial as Frank Sanudi had fouled Duncan Nyoni to concede a penalty however Atusaye Nyondo missed the spot kick.
For most parts of the second half, Extreme FC sat back to absorb the offensive weaponry from Silver Strikers.
Extreme FC had a rock solid defense on the day which was well complemented with outstanding goal keeping from Blessings Juma.
In his post-match interview, Coach for Silver Strikers Pieter De Jogn described the match as yet another outcome in football while also noting the need for collaborated efforts from the entire Silver Strikers faithful to ensure they remain in contention for the league.
“Its football, you either win, draw or lose and today we lost two points and going forward we need support from the supporters and the board because we still have 11 games to go,” he said.
Meanwhile, Coach for Extreme FC, Andrew Bunya echoed the need for his team to keep piling positive results in order to avoid relegation zone.
“We approached the game well, in the first half we created a lot of chances but struggled to score while in the second half Silver Strikers pressured we as we were a bit relaxed,” Bunya said.
Also reacting to the penalty awarded to Silver and a penalty shout after a foul on Babangida Ishaya Bunya noted the need for the officiation to improve.
Following the result, Silver Strikers are second on the log table with 33 points from 19 games behind FCB Nyasa Big Bullets with 34 points from 19 games while Extreme sit 16th with 14 points from 19 games.
