Silver Strikers played out to a-1 all draw on Sunday to share spoils with Blue Eagles FC.
Both teams showed hunger and resilience looking to secure maximum points, but it was not to be. Goals from Laurent Banda and Zebron Kalima in the second half were what failed to separate the two sides.
The Central Bankers came close to scoring in the first half after 21 minutes of play when Dan Sandukila started a move from his own half to set off Chinsisi Maonga who quickly played a diagonal ball to Binwell Katinj but his effort was cleared before reaching its intended destination.
The guests continued to pile pressure on the hosts as at 37 minutes, Chimwemwe Idana came close to snatch a lead when Uchizi Vunga and Sandukila had a good exchange of passes but the final shot from Idana was saved and the rebound from Katinji hit the post.
The two sides went into half-time goalless.
The Area 47 side came hunting for a goal in the second half but could not find it as the side kept winning corner kicks one after another. Eleven minutes into the second half, the hosts scored a cracker when Banda made a turn inside the midfiled and made a shot that found the corner of the upright to take the lead.
After conceding the goal, Head Coach Peter Mgangira made a double substitution as he took out Festus Duwe and Levision Maganizo for Stanie Davie and Zebron Kalima.
With 10 minutes to play after staging several attacks, Idana made a move that saw him dribble past two opponents but was eventually blocked. Maonga picked up the pieces and forced Joshua Waka to concede an eleventh corner for Silver Strikers.
Sandukila was then replaced by Lasuli Jali.
In added time, substitute Kalima found the back of the net as he shifted inside the midfield and fired home a thunderbolt to level scores.
After regulation time, the match ended goalless.
Mgangira ruled out the result being due to the missing of numerous key players, saying the ones that played today were equally good for the job at hand.
“We have had a good game this afternoon, but this result doesn’t mean we were bad because we did not have other players due to injuries. The boys know their role, and today they showed a good spirit by not giving up after conceding early in the second half. We were playing away and coming back with a point is not bad, as the hosts were also good on the day, otherwise a point away from home is not that bad,” he said.
With the draw, Silver Strikers has moved to eighth position with 12 points from 7 games.
Currently, Silver Strikers is missing the services of almost nine players due to various injuries.
