By: Andrew Cane Chilapondwa
The Flames of Malawi played out to a 1-all draw against Sierra Leone in a friendly training match on Tuesday evening.
Micium Mhone had given the visitors a lead in the 18th minute but the hosts responded well just a few minutes before the interval.
Enerst Mtawali fielded his strongest squad, with Brighton Munthali making his first start for the Flames in goals at the expense of John Soko.
Malawi dominated the opening 25 minutes of the match no Wonder Mhone opened the scoring after finishing up a good move involving Robert Ng’ambi and Joseph Kamwendo, 1-0.
However, Flames’ disease of conceding in the late stages of matches haunted them back when the hosts leveled the scoreline with 2 minutes to go before the half time whistle, 1-1. Harry Nyirenda replaced John Lanjesi, with Yamikani Fodya replacing Isaac Kaliyati for Mtawali’s boys.
Despite creating some goal scoring chances, both teams failed to find the winning goal and after 90 minutes of play, it ended 1-1.
In hist post match interview with Malawi’s FA, Mtawali said he was happy with the performance of his team. He also praised senior players Kamwendo and Ng’ambi for a vintage display of football and praised debutant Munthali for standing up to the challenge in his first game with the Flames.
The team leaves today for Conakry for the crucial 2017 Afcon qualifier against Guinea on Friday before hosting them four days later at Kamuzu Stadium.
Winning both matches will keep hopes of making it to Gabon for their Afcon finals appearance.
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