FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserves came from a goal down to defeat Zingwangwa United 2-1 in a quarter-final fixture of the Nyasa Capital Finance Cup at the Mpira Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Macray Chiwaya initiated the comeback early in the second half before Francis Malikebu completed the mission.
What happened
Straight from their defeat to Baka City in the Champion Cup in Mponera last Sunday, Enos Chatama’s boys made a strong start to the quarter-final assignment by keeping the hosts pinned in their own half through to our clever movement of the ball in the final third.
Big chances fell for Mapemba, Wilson Jacob and Chiwaya, but the trio were never clinical enough to convert them into our opener.
Having fluffed a lot of chances in the opening minutes, it would be Zingwangwa United who, against the run of play, first got in front through Chikondi Mbeta, who planted a powerful header past Austin Chirambo to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute.
Spurred by that goal, Zingwangwa United then looked to claim a fleeting spell of dominance but our youngsters pulled themselves together in time to steady the ship before the interval arrived with the scoreline at 1-0.
The defending champions could not have wished for a better start than being able to provide a strong reply two minutes from the restart, through Macray Chiwaya who finished off a wonderful penetrative team move to make it 1-1 from the goal mouth.
It was going to be a quick-fire response from us as we completed the comeback four minutes later and did so in a lovely fashion through Malikebu, who curled it home from outside the box to make it 1-2.
From this twist in the tie, our youngsters went on to create more chances and could have easily established a big margin lead but we continued to misuse the opportunities.
Of late, Bullets Reserves have been found guilty of conceding late in the tie and giving away leads, but it was never going to be the case on Wednesday afternoon as we calculatedly saw out the tie to confirm our place in the semi-finals of the 2023 Capital Finance Cup.
What it means
The midweek victory sends the defending champions to the semi-finals of the cup competition and will face Ntaja United at the Kamuzu Stadium.
As they are also in the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League knockout stages, our youngsters have now provided a strong statement to go for a treble a few days after their exit from the Champions Cup.
Chatama post Zingwangwa United
“A very good result although we could not get what we wanted in the game. We created so many chances, we conceded a silly goal midway through the first half, we could have avoided that goal. The boys played better, especially in the second half. Cup games are tough, the boys have done a tremendous job.”
Next
Having booted out Zingwangwa with a strong performance, our youngsters will now be looking forward to hosting Ntaja United in the semi-finals of the 2023 Nyasa Capita Finance Cup competition at the Kamuzu Stadium this coming week.
Starting XI
Austin Chirambo, Happy Mphepo, Gift Jossam, Mussah Bwanali, Raphick Bahati, Andrew Lameck, Limbani Kutambe, Macray Chiwaya, Wilson Jacob, Chrispin Mapemba, Raphick Ndeule.
Used subs
Oscar Petro, Francis Malikebu
