Nyasa Big Bullets Women have been drawn in Group A of the Football Association of Malawi National Women’s Championship alongside CY Sisters, DD Sunshine, Destiny Academy and Topik.
Bullets ladies, who won the 2022 FAM Women’s Football Southern Region League early last month, will face the four other teams drawn from the Central and Northern regions in search of a semi-final spot.
What should be interesting for Maggie Chombo’s side is that they will be up against Topik Sisters, CY Sisters and Destiny Academy who are only having their debut season in the competition.
But the presence of last edition’s runners-up, DD Sunshine, who lost 3-1 to our ladies in the final at Civo Stadium to end their six-year dominance of Malawi women’s football, has seen Group A termed “the group of death”.
Also, CY Sisters might be new entrants but have already stamped their class in the competition as they get into the group as winners of the 2022 FAM Women Northern Region League.
Our women’s team head coach, Chombo, while reacting to the draw, partially accepted Group A should be the toughest as compared to Group B, which has Evirom, Civil Service United Women, Moyale Barracks, Ascent Academy and Ntopwa.
“I have to agree that Group A seems like a group of death, but as a coach, I believe that even during a war you expect different enemies with different capabilities. I don’t really consider it a group of death per se because all you can do is fully prepare yourself.
“We are well acquainted with the teams we have been housed together with. We have been playing against one of the teams [DD Sunshine], it’s only the remaining three that we have never met on the ground before,” Chombo spoke about her opponents.
The fight for the championship at the national level will commence on 11 March and will run for a period of eight weeks until 7 May.
Bullets ladies have been superb in their division as they clinched the title with an impeccable unbeaten record but this time around, they will be up against sides that are equal to their class.
On facing the top sides of the competition, our mentor urged her players to remain calm and focused as it is not the first time they have to compete on the big stage.
“The regional league is different from this one because we are playing against top teams from different regions. But this is not something new for my team, we have been playing in the championships with other strong teams as well,” said Chombo.
“All we can do is come up with a different and unique strategic plan because this is a war and it is what we were expecting when we were playing for the regional trophy. There’s no running away from this, with focused training and preparation we are 100 per cent sure that we will succeed [and defend the national championship].”
