The just-ended TNM Super League season will go down in history as more competitive compared to the two preceding years.
While the most conspicuous positive development of the season was champions, Big Bullets amassing of a record 66 points, there are several factors that make the 2015 edition of the league much more competitive than the 2013 and 2014 editions.
Relegated teams in the 2015 edition collected more points than their 2013 and 2014 counterparts Fisd Wizards got 21 points, Airborne Rangers 25 points and Dedza Young Soccer had 29 points.
In the 2013 edition, Mzuzu United, Evirom and Mponela United were sent packing with 12, 20 and 26 points respectively, whereas Karonga United with 16, Chikwawa United with 20 and Blantyre United with 21 points, were shown the exit last season.
At -20, Dedza Young Soccer got the lowest goal difference in the 2015 season compared to Mzuzu United’s -52 in 2013 and Karonga United’s -41 in 2014.
The just-ended season’s tally of 494 goals is only bettered by 520 scored in 2014. The 2013 season had 484 goals.
Competition was the stiffest between Mzuni and Dedza Young Soccer in the 2015 season. The latter lost their spot in the top league despite tying on 29 points with Mzuni. The Mzuzu students Mzuni finished with a better goal difference of -13 while Dedza managed -20.
There was no such tie in the two preceding seasons.At 66 points, Bullets created the biggest gap of 16 points between themselves and the runners-up Mafco who got 50.
In 2014, the gap between champions Bullets and secondplaced Moyale was nine points, whereas in 2013, it was only three points between eventual winners, Silver Strikers and secondpositioned Moyale.
Kamuzu Barracks have maintained a goal difference of 0 in two consecutive seasons—the just-ended season and the previous one, scoring and conceding 27 and 30 goals respectively. No team got a goal difference of zero in 2013.
However, Times Group season sports journalist, Pilirani Kachinziri, insisted that the fact that Bullets claimed the championship with some four games to go suggests that the season was not as competitive.
Kachinziri said this in his recent contribution to Times Radio 360 Degrees sports programme.
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