Silver Strikers weren’t taking any chances when they registered the highest margin of the first leg quarter final matches in the Airtel Top8 on Wednesday.
The Airtel Top 8 returned to Silver Stadium after three years and the Central Bankers maximised the home ground advantage to score four goals against Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos to boost their chances of cruising to the semi final stage.
A goal each from Chimwemwe Idana and Zebron Kalima, and two goals from Chinsisi Maonga were what the Peter Mponda-led side needed to keep a win at home.
12 minutes into the match, Idana opened the scoring after he reclaimed possession outside the eighteen-yard box and dribbled past three opponents to set himself up for a left-footed shot that left the keeper without a chance of saving it.
With the goal, the Central Bankers settled in very well and controlled possession. Five minutes later, Kalima could have doubled the lead after receiving a good ball from Binwell Katinji but the ball went wide.
Charles Chipala was withdrawn at 26 minutes for Stanie Davie. The substitution was followed by chances from Katinji but to no avail.
Five minutes from time, Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos were caught napping when Idana quickly restarted play from a throw-in around the center of the field to Davie who made a run and crossed the ball to Kalima, Kalima made no mistake but to slot home the second goal for the day.
The Area 47 outfit took the lead to half-time.
Come second half, the guests came with a plan to revert the scores and it was not by surprise that at 54 minutes they pulled one back through Chifuniro Mpinganjira who utilized a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Pilirani Mapila.
At 60 minutes, Binwell Katinji paved way for Chinsisi Maonga. Maonga made a quick impact as five minutes after his introduction he scored the third goal for Silver Strikers after he finished off a flicked ball from a cross.
Maonga finished off the business of the day after he connected a ball from Idana at 82 minutes to score the fourth.
In post-match interviews, Head Coach Peter Mponda said he was excited with the performance of the team and his charges dominated the whole match but said the job is not done yet.
“We dominated the game today and it’s not a surprise that we won. I am very impressed with the result and the performance of my team. This is a two-legged game and today we are playing at home which means we will go to Dedza to finish off the assignment so we will need to prepare thoroughly for the second game”, said Mponda.
Silver Strikers will travel to Dedza next month for the return leg of the quarterfinal match.
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