Enos Chatama admitted his Nyasa Big Bullets Reserves could not match the main team’s second-half display as they succumbed to a 1-3 FDH Bank Cup final defeat at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Bullets Reserves showed some muscle in the opening period of the final played in front of a big crowd at the Soccer Mecca, but could not stand the heat from their brothers in the closing half to surrender a 1-1 half-time draw to concede two more goals.
Addressing the press in a post-match interview, Chatama conceded defeat and said his charges were better in the first half but could not match their seniors’ pace in the final half.
“We matched them in the first half but things went astray in the second half when we made silly mistakes and kept on playing second fiddle to them in possession,” admitted the Bullets Reserves mentor.
He added: “But all in all, it was a good game and congratulations to them for playing good football and they deserve to win the Cup.”
Chatama further praised his boys for defying all odds to reach the 2022 FDH Bank Cup final on a journey they booted out three lower league sides and three TNM Super League teams to set up a final tie with their seniors.
“It wasn’t an easy journey for us to reach this far because we faced very difficult oppositions, but let me salute my boys for this achievement because it’s a new team and nobody gave us a chance, but here we are. We will not relent because of this defeat, instead, we will move on and focus on the upcoming games in different competitions,” he told the media.
On what he has learnt throughout the campaign, Chatama said: “We have learnt a lot, especially this final match where we made several errors and we need to work on them and perfect our game. It wasn’t easy for us but that’s football, you learn through these mistakes.”
Bullets Reserves will now switch focus to the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League where they are the defending champions. They will also be defending the Nyasa Capital Finance Cup which rolled into action last month.
