Nyasa Big Bullets Women began the FAM Women’s Football Southern Region League title defence on a high with a 12-0 thrashing of Bvumbwe at Bvumbwe Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Vanessa Chikupila, Mary Chavinda, Tendai Sani and Linda Nyangu were on target for Maggie Chombo’s side.
Bullets Women would have started the day’s scoring in as early as the opening minute when Chikupila’s effort was ruled out for offside.
But moments later, the league’s top scorer last season, became a provider when she set up Sani to break the deadlock.
What a fascinating goal from Sani, who, with a brilliant move from Bullets ladies completed Chikupila’s attempt, connecting well from a rebound after Bvumbwe’s goalkeeper Ayana Pongolani fumbled the effort for the youngster to pounce and get us in the lead.
In the 5th minute, Nyangu registered her name on the score sheet with a magnificent strike just outside the penalty area.
Bullets Women had more possession in the first half and it was pretty easy for the fans to foretell the champion of the day.
Chikupila finally got what she worked hard for when she bagged her first goal of the season in the 11th minute. With a sneaky move amongst her rivals, the striker hit past Pongolani to make it 3-0 in the opening minutes.
Five minutes after Chikupila’s finish, the league’s 2021 Golden Boot winner, Mary Chavinda, found the back of the neck after dribbling past several opposition players before opening fire from 25 yards.
The number 10 nearly grabbed her brace, unfortunately, she was ruled out for offside.
Chikupila had her name on the score sheet again, registering her brace in the 23rd minute. With a beautiful assist from Nyangu, our number 13 pounced from outside the penalty area to make it 5-0.
What a good day for the Bullets ladies as they scored five goals in less than half an hour.
Bvumbwe nearly found a consolation goal in the opening half when Harriet Kamanga almost found the back of the net in the 25th minute as she raced for the target, unfortunately for the hosts, her effort landed away from the post.
Two minutes before the half-hour mark, Bvumbwe coach, Bridget Chongo, made the first substitution of the day when she introduced Tawina Magaleta and Christina Emmanuel to replace Tamandani Julius and Verah Kholowa.
Five minutes before the first-half call, Chikupila almost grabbed her hattrick of the afternoon but was unlucky to watch her effort flying over the crossbar, and that was all for the opening period with Bullets Women leading 5-0 at the break.
Chombo made her first substitution in the 51st minute when she took out Nyangu for 15-year-old Alexia Ioulia Yiannakis and our new no.30 started her league debut with an attempt two minutes after her introduction, sadly her strong effort ended further from the post.
Chavinda broke the second-half deadlock when she found the back of the net immediately after the one-hour mark. With a swift miss from Yiannakis a few yards from the target, Chavinda finished what could have been the youngster’s first league goal for Bullets Women.
It continued raining goals for the red team when Chikupila grabbed her hat trick of the day two minutes after Chavinda’s goal.
The ruthless forward was too much for the opponents as she amazed the fans with her fourth goal moments later.
Five minutes before the referee’s call, our outstanding striker Chikupila had three balls inside the net to make it 11-0.
The forward was at it again in the final minute when she scored her eighth and final score of the day to give Chombo’s ladies an 12-0 victory in the opening game of the season as our women’s team started the title defence on a high.
Chombo was all praises for Chikupila on the outstanding performance she delivered on Saturday afternoon.
“Vanessa has been outstanding today. I am proud and happy of how she has started the campaign and I hope she keeps improving for the better,” said Chombo in her post-match interview.
“I want to thank the girls for the job well done today, they have delivered and proved that what we have been working on during pre-season is paying off and I hope that this delivery continues to the end.”
