BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Ishmael Thindwa helped to break the hearts of Mangochi Police followers who thronged the Kamuzu Stadium to watch the unpredictable Carlsberg Cup semifinal on Saturday as the former Epac and Zimbabwe’s Caps United star scored the Mighty Be Forward Wanderers’ winner with his first touch after replacing Jimmy Zakazaka in the second half.The match, which was the typical biblical David versus Goliath affair according to sports pundits, saw the Police men holding the defending champions in the first half to a goalless draw.
However, Wanderers started the second half with vigour, tormenting the lower league side from all cylinders. In the middle of the second half, the introduction of Thindwa proved vital for Nomads as his first touch saw goalkeeper of Mangochi Police collecting the ball at the back of the net.
After the goal, both sides played consciously but it was still 1-0 after the last whistle.
The game was not short of drama as unknown Wanderers supporters were allegedly to have beaten first choice goalkeeper for the Police as he was going to dressing room after the first half. The goalkeeper was then substituted due to injury which he sustained in the pitch and it was aggravated by punches which land on him by the Nomads fans.
Speaking after the game,mentor for Wanderers Elia Kananji hailed his charges for winning the game.
“It was a tough game. We were under pressure. But I thank my boys for putting a gallant fight to carry the day,” said Kananji.
His counterpart, Andrew Ndali accepted the defeat while blaming the supporters who beat their first choice goalkeeper.
“Our players were psychologically affected. Imagine Wanderers supporters beat our goalkeeper and oiled him with pock. That’s not football! These players are young and that incident affected them much. All in all, we tried our best and I thank the players for reaching this far,” he said.
Wanderers will meet the winner between Silver Strikers and Mafco FC who are playing on Sunday 28th.