Silver Strikers progressed to the 2024 Castel Challenge Cup round-of-32 following a hard fought 2-1 victory over Blue Eagles at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe Thursday.
It was sweet revenge for Silver after Eagles knocked them out of the 2024 FDH Bank Cup round-of-32 following a 5-3 victory on post-match penalties after a goalless regulation time finish.
It was a match of high intensity as both teams fought gallantly, with Eagles drawing first blood through Gilbert Chirwa in the 13th minute.
Chirwa beat Silver goalkeeper George Chikooka with a right foot shot after a good exchange of passes with Schumacher Kuwali and Tonic Viyuyi.
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After the goal, Eagles sat back and invited pressure from Silver, who threw everything into attack.
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But the hosts were wasteful in front of goal with Friday Osagie and Charles Chipala being the main culprits.
It was defender Emmanuel Kaunga who pulled Silver level in added time of the first half, heading in a Zebron Kalima corner kick.
The goal ignited a furious reaction from the Eagles technical panel and the resultant scenes led to team manager Philip Masiye getting red-carded for retaliation.
Before the equaliser, Osagie had the ball into the net but it was ruled out for offside.
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The two teams went for recess with the score line reading 1-1. After the break, both teams displayed good football but goals were not forthcoming.
But Silver got their act together and found the winning goal through substitute Stain Davie, who tapped in a Chimwemwe Idana pass in the 71st minute.
Idana dribbled past his marker Andrew Juvinala before laying a pass inside the box for Davie to do the needful.
Eagles tried to come back into the game but it was too late as the damage had already been done.
Silver coach Peter Mponda said his charges deserved the victory.
“The performance was very good and we played with intensity. The score line could have been on the higher side but we should give credit to Eagles for also playing well,” Mponda said.
His Eagles counterpart Elia Kananji conceded defeat.
“We started well but lost concentration at some point. As a result, Silver capitalised on that and punished us,” Kananji said.
In another match in the same competition, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers also booked a place in the round-of-32 following a 16-0 victory over non-league side Nsuwadzi FC of Mulanje District.
