Peter Mponda accepted defeat after FCB Nyasa Big Bullets surrendered Blantyre derby supremacy to Mighty Wanderers in Saturday’s TNM Super League encounter at Kamuzu Stadium.
Despite a promising start to our season, Bullets struggled to find rhythm early on and conceded in the 11th minute when Blessings Mwalilino struck—handing The People’s Team the first loss of the 2025 campaign.
Reflecting post-match, the Bullets head coach acknowledged his team fell below expectations and did not do enough to secure a positive result in the fierce local derby.
“Wanderers fully deserved the win; they started on the front foot. They outshone us in nearly every department and carved out several clear chances. We were lucky to head into halftime just 1-0 down. We could easily have conceded more before the break,” Mponda noted after the game.
“In the second half, we attempted to shift our approach and managed to create some opportunities, but overall, we just weren’t in the game. Defeat was fair—we simply didn’t show the level of quality needed to get a result,” he added.
Asked whether the result echoed his comments from Thursday’s pre-match conference—where he labeled Wanderers as title favorites due to their squad retention—Mponda responded: “The way they played the first 45 minutes, they were good. Even though they were less convincing after the break, their first-half display proved they deserved to win this game.”
This loss comes just ahead of the league’s brief hiatus, as the Malawi national team prepares to head to South Africa next week for the 2025 Cosafa Cup Senior Championship scheduled to be staged from June 4 to June 15.
“We anticipated moments like these. We knew setbacks were possible, and today, we’ve experienced one. We need to go back and see how we missed our game plan—we didn’t play the way we usually play,” Mponda said.
Saturday’s triumph marked Wanderers’ first league win over Bullets since September 2021, when Vincent Nyangulu’s early goal delivered another 1-0 win.
Despite the setback, Bullets remain atop the table with 18 points from seven matches, while the Nomads follow closely with 16 points and a game in hand.
