Mighty Wanderers Queens temporarily displace Ascent Soccer on National Bank Women’s Premiership log table

* After defeating Kukoma Ntopwa Women 1-0 through a 45+2’ minute goal from Faluna Umali, that earned her Player of the Match

* Meanwhile, Ascent Soccer with 6 points are scheduled to be hosted by 6th-placed Civil Service Women on Sunday at Civo Stadium

* Which if they win will change status of the Week 4 at the top of the table being led by Silver Strikers Ladies

By Duncan Mlanjira

After a hard fought exciting Blantyre derby this Friday morning at Mpira Stadium, Mighty Wanderers Queens have defeated Kukoma Ntopwa Women 1-0 through a 45+2’ minute goal from Faluna Umali — to temporarily displace Ascent Soccer from 3rd place of the National Bank Women’s Premiership log table.

Ahead of the match, Mighty Wanderers Queens were 4th with 6 points, tying with Ascent Soccer, who are scheduled to be hosted by 6th-placed Civil Service Women on Sunday at Civo Stadium @ 14h30 in another derby in Lilongwe.

Meanwhile, Kukoma Ntopwa Women have also temporarily maintained their 2nd position with 9 points as they might be displaced in the event that Ascent Soccer win on Sunday as the Lilongwe-based academy also have 6 points but with a better goal difference.

Tomorrow also presents an intriguing aspect of the inaugural NBM Women’s Premiership as leaders, Silver Strikers Ladies, through goal difference, also have 9 points ahead of their match on Saturday at home, Silver Stadium, against rock bottom of the table Topik Academy.

Topik Academy haven’t won any match in the three games played so far but cannot be ruled out that they can shake Silver’s unbeaten run so far in the race — even though they are playing at home.

On Sunday, 5th-placed FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Women (with 4 points from one win, one draw and one loss) date 9th-placed Moyale Sisters (9th with one point)  to be played at Mpira Stadium @ 14h30.

While MK Academy, who sit on 8th place with one point from a draw, will be at home at Mzuzu Stadium from 11h00 against Lilongwe-based MDF Lionesses — who are 7th with 3 points from three draws.

Silver Strikers Ladies lead with a 100% winning record while 6th-placed Civil Service Women have also not been beaten and earned their 3 points from draws as Ascent Soccer have lost once while scoring the highest number of goals at nine and conceding two.

In Friday’s match, Kukoma Ntopwa Women’s Olivia Phikani — who is the league inaugural Player of the Match in their 2-1 win in the opening match against FCB Nyasa Big Bullets — was also a thorn in the fresh of Mighty Wanderers Queens.

But Wanderers also had the perfect arsenal in Faluna Umali, whose all-important goal in 45+2’ minutes and her overall performance earned her the Player of the Match accolade.

She scored with a beautiful goal after she was released down the left by Funny Moyo and on several occasions thereafter, she was a constant threat as the game seemed to-sawed from one end to the other.

Going into the second half, Ntopwa — who are leaving this Friday for the COSAFA  CAF Women’s Champions League in South Africa — made three changes, bringing in Esther Chauluka, Alice Brazi and Takondwa Gambuleni for Chimwemwe Bonongwe, Lydia Mchochoma and Mary Chindeya to re-enforce themselves after conceding in time added.

Kondawo Banda kept the pressure she gave in the first half as evidenced to the six times she was caught offside while Mighty Wanderers Women also made changes in the 64th minute bringing in Shira Mangani and Grace Khunga for Annie Kalirangwe and Esmy Chisale to try to contain the constant attack.

This was the best test for Ntopwa as they head to South Africa, and coach Isaac Jomo Osman said much as the girls worked hard for a win, probably it’s a blessing in disguise as that would have given them overconfidence ahead of the COSAFA CAF Champions League.

“We created many chances but made a mistake that resulted into conceding the goal [late in the first half],” he said. “Overall, it was a tough match as you be aware that Ntopwa and Wanderers Queens are rivals.

“The two teams are sort of a split as some players who played for us are playing for Wanderers; so every game we play against each other is a fierce one,” he said, adding that going forward, they will pick themselves up after gaining more exposure at the COSAFA CAF Champions League.

His counterpart, Thom Kazembe also echoed Jomo Osman’s observation that it was a tough match but also a beautiful encounter, saying: “We worked very hard against a tough opponent.

“Ours is a very young squad, who are gaining the exposure in an admirable manner and beating Ntopwa is a huge plus considering we are still building a stronger team,” he said.