FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserves missed the opportunity to widen their lead at the top of Group B in the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League following a 1-1 draw against Nyambadwe United at Kamuzu Stadium on Monday afternoon.
It was nil-nil at the half-time break before Blessings Kambwiri took the lead for the hosts and Prince Chalera squared it up for young Maule late in the final period.
What happened
Nyambadwe, the home side at Kamuzu Stadium on Monday afternoon, did not make their game plan a secret right from the start. They were happy to stay in their half and ready to pounce on the break.
Such was their behaviour that any coaxing in the build-up play from our youngsters never worked as not enough room was given for them.
With fierce battles in the boxes, the tie rolled on but with so little to report in terms of goal-mouth action.
It would be goalless at the half-time break but very promising for both sides, who seemed only to be lacking a telling quality on both ends.
Looking for an improved second half, Chatama made a change at the restart, subbing off Hadji Steven to introduce Wongani Kaponya, who was returning from a lengthy injury.
The winger took no time to settle as he instantly taut his marker with electric take-ons, using his pace quite well.
Nonetheless, it would be the hosts who went on to take the lead 10 minutes after the restart.
Hoping to draw the opponents into the final third and exploit the spaces left behind, Chatama’s boys were eventually caught up in their patterns.
Oscar Petro lost possession on the edge of the box and Nyambadwe made us pay when Kambwiri pounced to slot the ball behind our goalkeeper Julius Banda, 1-0.
That forced us to make the second change when Madalitso Safuli replaced Francis Malikebu. From there on, there was a sense of awakening in our boys as they doubled their desire to turn things around.
From a long way out, Safuli took a thunderous strike, which the home side ‘keeper Kondwani Chilangali fumbled into the path of Chalera and the forward made no mistake on the rebound with a strong finish.
The energy, the pressing, and the relentlessness were then applied at a higher level by our youngsters, who kept the hosts pinned in their own half.
One of their intense pressings ended up forcing Chilangali into a horrible mistake when he misplaced a pass to Chalera, who unfortunately couldn’t get hold of it, and the defence recovered in time.
In the final minutes, it was clear that Bullets looked more likely the next goal scorer and probably the winner.
Looking happy to secure a point against the Group B leaders, Nyambadwe resorted to dropping into a low block, which proved to be too thick for our youngsters to break.
A game that was physical and fierce with moments of spectacular could only end in a 1-1 draw, just like what the reverse fixture was like in the first round.
What it means
Regardless of the dropped points today, Bullets Reserves remain Group B leaders with 31 points from 16 matches.
The result will go well with Ntaja Rangers and Ekhaya United, who are chasing us in second and third positions.
Chatama post Nyambadwe
“We never wanted this result. It’s a bad result for our team. We prepared to win. We started on a high but dropped after 15 minutes. It was a game of high tempo, we were never given enough space to penetrate. They were coming hard, there were a lot of fouls as it was like one of those military matches. In the last 20 minutes, we attacked relentlessly and got the equalizer.”
Looking forward
After Monday’s draw, Bullets Reserves are likely to return to action next month as a bunch of our players are set to travel with Malawi for the TotalEnergies CAF Under 20 AFCON 2025 | COSAFA Qualifier to be staged in Mozambique from September 26-October 5.
