* Silver Strikers Ladies lead in the goal scoring chart with 11 goals, with six from one games when they thrashed Topik Academy 5-1 in Week 4
* Silver’s Deborah Henry and Ascent Soccer’s Leticia Chinyamula are neck to neck in the race for the Golden Boot at 5 goals apiece
By Duncan Mlanjira
After a break to pave way for Malawi Scorchers’ two international friendly matches against Lesotho, the National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Women’s Premiership resumes this weekend — with leaders Silver Strikers Ladies being hosted by 4th placed Mighty Wanderers Queens at Mpira Stadium on Sunday.
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After four matches played, Silver Strikers Ladies lead with 12 points — a 100% record while Wanderers have nine points, sharing with second-placed Ascent Soccer and 3rd placed Kukoma Ntopwa Women.
Ascent Soccer will host 5th-placed Nyasa Big Bullets Women (7 points) also on Sunday at Ascent Ground while Ntopwa Women are away against 6th-placed MDF Lionesses (5 points) at Champion Stadium on Saturday.
On position 9 are Moyale Sisters with a single point, who play host to 8th-placed MK Academy who also have one point — to be played at Mzuzu Stadium on Saturday while rock bottom side without a point, Topik Academy will host 7th-placed Civil Service Women (3 points) on Sunday.
So daggers are drawn at the top as Silver Strikers Ladies will be looking over their shoulders as the race is tight since they are ahead of Ascent Soccer, Ntopwa Women and Mighty Wanderers Queens with 3 points.
At the bottom is the race to avoid relegation with Topik Academy having an uphill battle to escape the chop, along with 9th-placed Moyale Sisters and 8th-placed MK Academy.
Civil Service (3 points) will be looking to still be in charge of 7th place in their encounter with Topik Academy since in the event of a loss and MK Academy (1 point) beat Moyale Sisters, they will be displaced.
Ascent Soccer (9 points) will be looking for all three points because if they will be beaten by Nyasa Big Bullets (7 points), they will also be displaced from the second position.
Should Wanderers Queens beat Silver Ladies, they will tie on 12 points with the Nomads needing to score an avalanche of 9 goals to nothing to displace the leaders — as the Bankers have a goal difference of 11 while Wanderers have three.
Silver Strikers Ladies lead in the goal scoring chart, with six from one games when they thrashed Topik Academy 5-1 in Week 4 through two braces from Linda Manda (3′, 41′) and Deborah Henry (67′, 72’), an own goal from Topik Academy’s Chrissy Chirambo (28′), and one from Wezzie Mvula in the 38th.
Silver’s Deborah Henry and Ascent Soccer’s Leticia Chinyamula are neck to neck in the race for the Golden Boot at 5 goals apiece, followed three each by Mary Chavinda, Vanessa Issa (both for Nyasa Big Bullets, Kondawo Banda (Kukoma Ntopwa) and Mayamiko Mkandawire (Ascent Soccer).
From the double 3-0 victories against Lesotho in the two friendlies at Mpira Stadium, MDF Lionesses’ Asimenye Simwaka scored five — a brace on Friday and a hat-trick on Sunday with captain Sabina Thom claiming the third.
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The two friendlies — their 8th international friendly ahead of the two competitions having played two each against Zambia and South Africa and one each against Morocco and Uganda — formed part of Malawi’s build-up to the COSAFA Women’s Championship and the crucial Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) qualifiers against Angola in October.
As a morale booster ahead of the two friendlies, the Scorchers were hosted by the Women’s Premiership sponsors, National Bank of Malawi, where they proudly connected with staff and customers at the Bank of the Nation’s headquarters, Victoria Avenue and Henderson Street in Blantyre’s central business district (CBD) — and at Chichiri Shopping Mall and Limbe Customs Road service centres.
