Silver Strikers Ladies have jumped the first hurdle of the 2024 Goshen FAM Women’s Championship after netting five goals to ease the pressure ahead of the second playoff scheduled for Saturday.
Goals from Gladys Banda, Deborah Henry, Grace Kakangula, Ireen Khumalo and Linda Manda were what the Area 47 Ladies needed as a start to the tournament.
The match saw a slow start as Mighty Wanderers Queens showed some resilience. It took 19 minutes for the Lilongwe based side to get a first goal through Manda who tipped in a ball from Tionge John.
The second goal came 10 minutes later after Khumalo scored a thunderbolt that forced the opponents to make a change in goals.
At the start of the second half, Head Coach Andrew Chikhosi made a double change when he introduced Chikondi Gondwe and Gladys Banda for Wezzie Mvula and Ruth Nyirongo.
Ten minutes into the second half, Kakangula scored a third goal after a good run from the center, as Khumalo orchestrated a move in which Chisomo Banda and Gladys Banda played a one-two pass that ended at the feet of Kakangula, who blasted home a wonderful shot.
At 61 minutes, Zain Duda and Deborah Henry were thrown in for Grace Kakangula and Carol Mathyola. Henry did not waste time registering her name on the scoresheet after intercepting a loose goal kick.
As if it wasn’t enough, Gladys Banda scored a thunderbolt after Chikondi Gondwe started a move in midfield that saw Deborah Henry being released on a run that didn’t yield results but the clearance by the opponents got to Banda who took her time to put the ball at the back of the net.
The goal was the last action of the match.
In post-match interviews, Chikhosi said he was happy that his side won the game with more goals.
“It’s a good start to our journey as this is what we needed, a win and some goals. We planned for a good start and as well many more games to come so we are not too excited for the win, we are just focused on the job ahead of us,” he said.
On Saturday, Silver Strikers Ladies face northern region side Topik FC to finish off the play off stage.