A second-half hat-trick from Emmanuel Allan sealed maximum points for the Central Bankers at Silver Stadium in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
Silver Strikers came into the match after playing out a two-all draw against Mighty Wanderers on Saturday.
With Wednesday’s win, the Area 47 side remains in third position with 44 points from 22 games played.
On Wednesday, Silver Strikers made two changes from the side that played Wanderers over the weekend. The changes were Innocent Mtonga and Chinsisi Maonga who came on for Nickson Mwase and Ernest Petro.
There was a slow start to the match, as neither side managed to pose a threat on the other until the 18th minute, when an effort from Dan Sandukila was cleared off the goal line.
This was the only chance that was so close to a goal in the first half of the match, and the two sides went to recess goalless.
At halftime, Levison Maganizo was substituted for Charles Chipala.
Two minutes into the second half, Moyale Barracks were reduced to 10 men after Ntopijo Njewa was shown a red card. Njewa was given marching orders after getting a second yellow card for a dangerous foul on Dan Sandukila. He picked the first yellow card in the dying minutes of the first half for using foul language towards the referee.
66 minutes into the match, Festus Duwe and Emmanuel Allan were introduced for Binwell Katinji and Innocent Mtonga.
A minute later, the changes brought sweet fruits as Emmanuel Allan scored after getting a good ball from Charles Chipala earning the Bankers a lead.
At 75 minutes, Allan broke out of the Moyale Barracks defense and made a run at the right-hand side space where he provided an inviting ball to Chipala who took a shot but the goalkeeper produced a fantastic save.
Three minutes later, Allan came back to haunt his former side when he scored his second goal after receiving a defense-splitting pass from Zebron Kalima.
Felix Dumakude was introduced for Uchizi Vunga at 80 minutes. Another change was made four minutes later when Lasuli Jali came on for Zebron Kalima.
Three minutes from time, Allan completed his hat-trick after fellow substitute Jali opened himself up on the right and crossed a beautiful ball to him, which he headed home to put Silver Strikers ahead with three goals.
Silver Strikers took a strong lead to regulation time.
After the match, first Assistant Coach Kent Mapopa Msukwa praised Moyale Barracks for giving his side a good run.
Msukwa added that his side will not allow pressure to disrupt them but will take a game as it comes until the end of the season.
“It was a very good game, in the first half we missed a lot of chances but we made some changes and returned a better side. We introduced more attacking players and it paid off. The league is still open for us we will take a game at a time and see how it ends,” he said.
Next, Silver Strikers will make a short trip to Civo Stadium on Sunday to face crosstown rivals Civil Service United.