07 Jan FOREST START 2024 WITH A DRAW
Forest Rangers this afternoon battled to a 1-all draw with Zanaco at Dola Hill Stadium to start the New Year on a stalemate note.
Smarting from a loss to Kabwe Warriors last Saturday, coach Mwenya Chipepo was desperate for a victory and everything was going according to plan after Eric Chomba tapped in a Lazarous Chishimba pass to give the home side the lead in the 22nd minute.
Left back Dieugo Apanane had a chance to double the lead on 40 minutes but his shot bounced off the crossbar.
The home side were in the driving seat going into the break and needed a cushion goal to guarantee victory but the Wedson Nyirenda coached Zanaco had other plans.
Malembe’ push for the second goal suffered a setback a few minutes into the second half after striker Moro Amenu was stretched off with a suspected ankle injury and was replaced by Moyela Libamba .
Ten minutes later Zanaco leveled through Malawian Chawanangwa Kaonga,who finished off a Charles Zulu pass .
Despite conceding , Malembe did not stop banging on Zanaco’s door in search of the winner with keeper Lameck Siame making some crucial saves to keep the scoreline at par.
Substitute Monday Bwalya took matters into his own hands on 89 minutes but his effort went slightly over the bar before referee Odario Simwinde blew the final whistle.
Coach Mwenya said he was unhappy with the result and bemoaned the goal his team conceded.
“I am very unhappy because we could have won by a good margin today but we were careless, we shouldn’t have allowed Zanaco to score.
“We need to reinforce the team and work extra hard because we have have a huge task ahead of us.” said the coach in response to what the problem could be,” he said.
His opposite number Nyirenda said Zanaco have a lot of work to do.
“It’s worrying because the games we are playing aren’t reflective of what we are doing in training. Like today, We didn’t play our game today and we were too slow on the ball and if Forest noticed that, they would have taken advantage of it.” he said.
Draw left both Forest and Zanaco tied on 24 points.
Forest will travel to Lusaka next weekend to face second placed Red Arrows before the league goes on recess.
No Comments