As we are heading towards the peripheral end of the 2024 season, battles are reaching their climax in the TNM Super League, title race, relegation battle and scramble for slots in the Top 8 football next season.
Week 22 rolled out in midweek with four games being lined up. Interestingly, the games produced four winners and four losers with teams sharing spoils. FCB Nyasa Big Bullets beat CRECK Sporting Club, Kamuzu Barracks got points at the expense of Dedza Dynamos, Bangwe All Stars got better off Baka City while Mafco FC were winners over Mighty Waka Waka Tigers.
Bullets survive CRECK’s fight-back
FCB Nyasa Big Bullets escaped TNM Super League rookies, CRECK Sporting Club’s fight-back to record a narrow 3-2 win on Wednesday afternoon.
Hot on the heels of the 4-2 win over Chitipa United, the defending Champions, Bullets claimed a two-goal advantage at the break courtesy of Maxwell Gastin Phodo and Babatunde Adepoju but Muhammad Sulumba scored twice thrice early in the second half before Ernest Petro won it to give his team their first back-to-back win since April when they beat Chitipa United and Baka City in two consecutive weeks.
With CRECK Sporting Club hunting for the first win since beating Mafco FC in August, they looked very lively early in the game as they were hunting for their first win since the return of head coach, Macdonald Nginde Mtetemera from his sabbatical suspension.
Hunting for much-needed goals, Mtetemera featured a team full of attacking players with Sulumba, former Mighty Mukuru Wanderers forward, Vincent Nyangulu and former Silver Strikers striker, George Chaomba as his front three.
Muhammad Sulumba who played for Bullets years back had two goals ruled out for offside in the first half as they were trying to silence a handful of Bullets’ fans who turned out to watch the game.
Pasuwa relied on Frank Willard to be the cradle of the team in midfield as Lloyd Banega Aaron who has quickly established himself as one of the reliable players for the team since switching from Civil Service United, was relegated to the bench. Willard rattled the woodwork with his effort from outside the penalty area before CRECK Sporting took over the command.
Innocent Nyasulu got a node in goals over Richard Chimbamba in the eleventh hour and he was forced to push the ball away when Sulumba drilled a longing effort after capitalizing on Bullets’ errors.
Sulumba’s other effort was tamed by Nyasulu before Nyangulu blazed over the bar on the rebound. As the game was destined for a draw in the first half, two bullets were fired. Babatunde Adepoju set up Phodo with a back-heel before the former Silver Strikers’ forward pressed the ball against the back of the net and the Nigerian striker pounced on Ernest Petro’s ball to double the lead just before the break.
Creck Sporting Club despite going to the break while behind, they could lose hope and they mounted a huge pressure on Bullets’ within the first five minutes in the second half. George Chaomba pocketed spaces in Bullets’ defense to find Sulumba who nodded the ball home, he wasn’t satisfied yet, he pulled another one to level the scores after connecting home Nyangulu’s ball.
It was a tense game for both sides as they were hoping to salvage something from the game. Kalisto Pasuwa admitted on Tuesday during the pre-match press conference that Patrick Mwaungulu’s departure left a “gulf” that needs to be filled. He mentioned Ernest Petro to be the right person to do it and the midfielder indeed took it in his hands to score the winner in the 53rd minute.
The defeat leaves CRECK Sporting winless since the return of Mtetemera to the hot seat, losing the Mighty Tigers, playing back-to-back draws against Dedza Dynamos and 0-0 against Moyale Barracks, away from home, they were playing their fourth straight game on the road on Wednesday.
Nginde said during the defeat to Bullets, he noted areas to improve, citing their defensive ability.
“This has gone, we need to rectify where as a team failed to do well. Somehow somewhere, we made mistakes but we will tell the guys that such things should not happen,” he said.
Kalisto Pasuwa’s side has conceded four goals in their last two games as they also swallowed two goals against Chitipa United. The head coach for the people’s team said the team’s failure to defend well has raised a concern.
“A victory again but again, we can’t keep a clean sheet. We played the first half, very good and then [in the] second half, we lost concentration and we conceded. Same mistakes, I think we need to do a lot in order for us to come back to where we were last year.
“We are lacking concentration and also the mental aspect, if we go leading, they will come comfortable and say we are leading by two goals. But again, any slight mistake, we are being punished on a counter. By now we should have been somewhere in terms of correcting our mistakes. We can’t repeat the same type of mistakes every time.
“Definitely [we are gaining vital points], so you see, offensive wise, we are doing good now and defensively, we are still having problems and we have a lot to do, we will go back to the drawing board and try to correct ourselves,” said Pasuwa.
Bullets climbed the table to seventh from 9th following the win with 30 points after playing 19 games, 18 points from the summit of the table while CRECK Sporting are 5th with 31 points after playing 21 games. The exact fixture produced a 1-all stalemate in the first round.
Bullets have two assignments on the road after playing three consecutive games at home as they face Baka City FC this weekend before facing Mzuzu City Hammers the following midweek while Mtetemera’s side face Silver Strikers at Civo Stadium before playing against FOMO FC in their next two assignment.
Bangwe revive survival dreams
Off the back of stunning struggling holders, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Bangwe All Stars have revived their dreams of surviving a relegation chop this season as they were 3-0 winners over fellow relegation battlers, Baka City FC.
Clever Chikwata was their hero in their previous game before taking on Baka, but Wednesday at Balaka Stadium, the forgotten star, Richard Rapson took people to his old days with a dazzling performance which saw him being named Sulom’s Player of the Match.
After shipping in 10 goals from their previous game against Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, Baka City were itching to bag something on their way back home after spending days in the Southern Region.
They showed resilience in the first half, holding the hosts to a goalless draw. Clever Chikwata, Benson Jimu, all were denied by the goal-minder, Abraham Mwandenga forcing Trevor Kajawa to make a change by taking James Tambwali off for Lytone Chinong’one.
Bangwe came out biting in the last 45 minutes and their dominance and fighting spirit paid off in the 60th minute when Kondwani Chilembwe tapped home Lapson’s free-kick before the former Blue Eagles winger doubled the leader five minutes later after being set up by Chilembwe.
Chikwata sealed the win five minutes from the last whistle when he bundled home Lapson’s ball to give Kajawa his second win as head coach for Bangwe who moved up with one step, leapfrogging Chitipa United to 18 points from 21 games.
Kajawa said the team will keep on fighting for their slot this season. “This is the beginning of good things at Bangwe, two wins from two games is a good result, looking at the type of teams that we are facing. We beat Bullets, one of the big teams and we faced our fellow relegation battlers, Baka City who also showed resistance but we are just commending our players for the job,” said Kajawa.
Baka City’s Head Coach, Kondwani Mwalweni said his team conceded cheap goals that they would have managed to defend. Despite anchoring the table with only 8 points from 21 outings. “We will continue fighting to see where we are going to finish by the end of the season,” he said.
Bangwe All Stars will play their next three of four games at home, facing Silver Strikers, Civil Service United and Kamuzu Barracks and playing away against Mighty Waka Waka Tigers at Kamuzu Stadium while Baka City are hosting FCB Nyasa Big Bullets this weekend before facing Mzuzu City Hammers and Mafco FC.
Kamuzu Barracks pile more pressure on Andrew Bunya
Before the game, Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos’ Head Coach, Andrew Bunya admitted that pressure has started mounting on him following the team’s recent poor run of results.
Dedza Dynamos have just won one game in their latest eight matches in all competitions, beating only FOMO FC at home, they also saw their 12-game unbeaten streak at home being terminated by Civil Service United who beat them 1-0 at Dedza Stadium.
Traveling to face Kamuzu Barracks at Civo Stadium, Dedza Dynamos were hoping to record their first away win but two first-half goals from Christopher Mtambo and Gregory Nachipo handed them their 6th defeat on the road.
Speaking after the game, Bunya accepted the defeat saying Kamuzu Barracks were a better team than his boys in the first half.
“We also failed to score goals in the second half after making some tactical changes. We lacked composure, the combinations upfront, we couldn’t unleash shots.
“I think it is a mental factor which is affecting us to fail to win away games. We came with the purpose but we failed to score goals, but I hope that this spell will come to an end,” he said.
Charles Kamanga said it was a tough game and they fought hard to bounce back from their defeat to Civil Service United.
“We want to compete for the championship this season,” he said.
Kamuzu Barracks have moved up on the table with two steps as they are third on the table and they have 34 points from 22 games while Dedza Dynamos are 11th with 24 points from 21 games.
Mafco end five-game winless run after beating Tigers
Salima-based Soldiers, Malawi Armed Forces College (MAFCO) Football Club ended their five-game winless run after claiming a 2-0 win over struggling Mighty Waka Waka Tigers.
Before their game against the Kau-Kau Boys, the Kambwiri Soldiers had suffered two defeats and recorded three draws from their latest five games and heading into a midweek encounter at Chitowe Stadium, Jimmy Mzunga’s side hunted for nothing but victory.
Mphatso Kasonga scored a brace in the second half to propel Mafco FC past Tigers and help the team to climb the table to 8th with 30 points, leaving them undefeated against Tigers in their last four matches [3W, 1D).
The defeat leaves Tigers with just a single win in their last five games, beating CRECK Sporting Club 1-0 at home, losing to Silver Strikers and Mafco and playing draws against Mzuzu City Hammers and FOMO Football Club (1W, 2L, 2D).
Mafco FC boss, Jimmy Mzunga said coming from a defeat to Karonga United in their previous game, it was tough for them to find their momentum but happy with the win.
“I’m delighted with the performance of my players today. We were coming from a loss from North and we are going to work so that we win our next game,” he said.
Leo Mpulura, Head Coach for Tigers admitted that his team is struggling to produce results but vowed to rectify the problems.
Actions will continue this weekend with Civil Service United welcoming Moyale Barracks at Civo Stadium, Karonga United taking on Chitipa United at Rumphi Stadium on Saturday.
On Sunday, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets are taking on Baka City FC while Kamuzu Barracks are traveling to Mulanje to face FOMO FC.
