FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserves have all the bragging rights of the city of Blantyre as they emerged 3-0 winners over Mighty Mukuru Wanderers Reserves in the mini-derby at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
To settle the scoreline, Enos Chatama’s side swept aside their rivals through Chrispin Mapemba and Wongani Kaponya who, with beautiful strikes, got themselves on the scoresheet.
The victory saw our youngsters moving top of the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League Group B standings.
What happened
Typical of a derby, the two sides were off to an intense contest but Bullets showed their muscle as the game unfolded.
With a crisp pass, Oscar Petro released Mapemba who took a few touches into the box before producing an exquisite strike past the Nomads goalie Vincent Mdoka to make it 1-0 after nine minutes of play.
The young Nomads then made their intention of a comeback open as they threatened mostly on set pieces but lacked the quality and the boldness to force a compact Chatama’s side open.
Nonetheless, our quality continued to exude further when the scorer of our opener, Mapemba, turned provider in the 27th minute of the tie after he beautifully set up Kaponya who slid himself for a smooth tap in past Mdoka to make it 2-0.
Although we had established ourselves a two-goal lead, our opponents were not out of pulse yet as they continued, especially through the flanks, pressing for an opening.
To thwart their penetration through the wide areas, Chatama was made to hook out right back Gift Jossam for Mussah Bwanali who efficiently protected our lead until the interval.
A minute after the restart the young Bullets conceded a penalty but lucky enough our net-minder Austin Chirambo saved Wallace Adam’s effort from the spot to allow us a sigh of relief.
Having had an indifferent start to the second half, we pushed up high on the hosts’ half where Mapemba hit the post with a vicious strike.
As if we were looking for an opener or a winner, we continued with eagerness which resulted in our third goal in the 63rd minute of the tie.
The goal came in such a magnificent manner for us to extend our lead as it took a slick exchange of passes before Kaponya completed his brace on the day with what was probably the collector’s item in the latest reserves Blantyre derby.
Making it sure late in the tie, Chatama made a double change by handing debuts to Limbani Kutambe and Zizwa Hanjahanja, who went on to steady the scoreline until the centre referee Alfred Kamphathengo closed the tie.
What it means
The derby win over the Nomads means that our reserves are now on 11 points and leading with the top spot in Group B of the Southern Region Football Premier Division League.
The three points collected today were enough to dislodge Fomo FC, who occupied the top spot with 10 points before our game in hand over them.
What the coach said
“We are excited but [at the same time I’d say] we are not really happy. We are not yet there; we still have a long way to go. We still have to catch up here and there so that we can play the way we used to play in the past.
“Today, it was the transition play that won us the game. We were very fast in transition as we created so many chances although we failed to keep the ball at certain moments. The boys were up to the task today.
“This win will give us an advantage as it will bring the morale back into the team. Certain guys seem to have lost confidence after two draws but football is a process and we will start kicking in the way we used to do.”
