FCB Nyasa Big Bullets’ date and venue for the FDH Bank Cup round-of-32 fixture against Ndirande Stars have been revealed.
The People’s Team will welcome the premier division side next week Wednesday, 21 June, at the Kamuzu Stadium. The match is scheduled to kick off at 14:30.
It will be the first competitive domestic match after the international break, marking the national phase of the 2023 FDH Bank Cup.
Bullets, who will travel to Lilongwe on Friday to face Silver Strikers in a ceremonial match at Bingu National Stadium to officially launch the Castel Challenge Cup on Saturday, will not have an opportunity to rest as they will quickly switch their focus to the midweek fixture.
The defending champions will also likely miss the services of Blessings Mpokera, Alick Lungu and Lanjesi Nkhoma who will be travelling on the same day from Mozambique where Malawi will face Ethiopia in the AFCON qualifiers on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s FDH Bank Cup fixture will be the third time running for Bullets to face a premier division side in the last 32 of the competition after we played our reserve team in its inaugural year in 2020/21.
In the second edition, Kalisto Pasuwa’s side met Chitipa United, which was playing in the Simso Northern Region Football League then before their promotion to the TNM Super League.
This time around, it’s a battle for a last-16 berth against a team that is coming from a neighbourhood deemed the base of where we originated from, Ndirande.
On paper, it looks like an easy fixture for the defending champions. Still, Pasuwa, on more than one occasion, has advised his charges never to undermine any opposition saying, “Even a social team can cause problems for us because every team wants to beat Bullets.”
Ticket details for the match will be announced in due course.
Last season, Bullets became the second club to win the cup two years after it was launched when we got the better of our reserve team at Kamuzu Stadium with a 3-1 victory.
