FCB Nyasa Big Bullets return to Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday for TNM Super League action against Extreme FC before travelling to Equatorial Guinea for the first leg in the first preliminary round of the CAF Champions League against Dragon FC next week.
Bullets have had disappointing three straight draws in domestic competitions, having dropped points against Mighty Tigers in the league before coming from behind to beat Sunday’s opposition on penalties in the quarter-final of the FDH Bank Cup after a 1-1 result in regulation time six days ago.
From Lilongwe, The People’s Team proceeded to Chitowe in Dwangwa where we played out to a goalless draw against Mafco FC on Wednesday in a match that Kalisto Pasuwa’s charges dominated and created lots of goal-scoring opportunities but couldn’t get the ball into the net.
The midweek stalemate saw the defending champions failing to return to the top of the standings, a position now being held by Silver Strikers, who have 32 points, one above us.
Next on the challenge is Extreme, a side currently struggling and lying bottom of the table with just 10 points from 16 games.
Ahead of the match, let’s take a look at how the Mchinji side has performed so far in their first season in the top-flight league.
They started their campaign with a 1-0 loss away from home to Mighty Tigers at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.
Their next assignment was another away match against Civil Service United at Civo Stadium. They earned their first point after they forced the hosts to a 1-1 draw through a second-half strike from Chifundo George to cancel out Binwell Katinji’s goal for the Servants.
Extreme then hosted us in the third week at Civo. The rookies put up a gallant fight in the first half to stop Pasuwa’s men from scoring until Hassan Kajoke’s powerful header in the early minutes of the second half won us all the points.
The rookies registered their heaviest defeat in the current campaign when they got hammered 4-1 by Kamuzu Barracks in the fourth week. Their only goal was scored by Francis Black.
They travelled to the North for the first team to face Chitipa United. The match ended 2-1 in favour of MacDonald Mtetemera’s side. Malide Julius scored Extreme FC’s consolation goal.
Next on the roaster was a fixture against Karonga United at home. The match ended goalless.
This meant they were winless in the six opening games, only collecting two points from the draws against Civil and Karonga.
In the 7th week, they travelled to Dwangwa to face Mafco FC. It was a match where they stepped up in search of their first league win, but after 90 minutes, they lost 2-1. Justice Honde was on target for the struggling side.
The rookies kept on passing through troubled waters as they lost 1-0 away to Blue Eagles in their next fixture.
But they registered their first win in brilliant fashion against one of brilliantly this season, Mighty Mukuru Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium, with their winning goal scored by Gregory Mwase.
However, they failed to build on their historical win over Wanderers as they lost to Ekwendeni Hammers 1-0 the following week at Civo Stadium.
Another 2-0 loss away to Moyale Barracks meant the Central Region side was still stuck in the bottom three with just one win.
They hosted Silver Strikers in their 12th match of the season. The rookies almost frustrated the giants when Innocent Chipolopolo levelled in the second half to cancel out Patrick Macheso’s strike. As the match was heading to a stalemate, they conceded with five minutes to go when Chimwemwe Idana found the back of the net to inspire the Bankers to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the relegation-threatened side.
The remaining three matches of the first round saw Elvis Kafoteka’s charges drawing 0-0 away to Bangwe All Stars, losing 1-0 to Dedza Dynamos and beating Red Lions 2-1 at Civo Stadium through goals from Frank Sanudi and Levison Gopani to finish the opening half of this campaign with nine points.
On Wednesday, they started the second round with a 1-1 draw against Civil Service United. The hosts almost got all the points when they scored in the 89th minute through Patrick Phiri, but Beston Jimu scored in the 90th minute to earn a point before travelling to Blantyre to face Bullets.
They have 10 points from 16 games, scoring nine goals and conceding 20. All the nine goals scored have nine different scorers and they are the second lowest-scoring team in the standings, behind Tigers who have eight goals.
However, they have performed well against the league giants, winning once, losing twice and conceding only three goals to Silver and Bullets.
