Lilongwe is in for a treat this Wednesday evening as Moyale Barracks and defending champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets get in for the highly-anticipated FDH Bank Cup semi-final match at Bingu National Stadium.
The fixture comes ten days after the two sides locked horns in an entertaining 1-1 draw in the TNM Super League at Kamuzu Stadium.
For Bullets, it’s about redemption after they surrendered their lead in the league to draw 1-1 with the Lions of Kaning’ina, who last lifted a trophy in 2008.
Coincidentally, the Mzuzu-based side won the trophy at the expense of The People’s Team, registering a 5-4 victory on penalties.
Prichard Mwansa’s side will go into this semi-final tie hoping for a win to proceed to the final and possibly end their 16-year trophy drought.
FORM GUIDE
Buoyed by our TotalEnergies CAF Champions League first preliminary round victory over Red Arrows on Sunday, Kalisto Pasuwa’s men will go into this match with more confidence and zeal to perform better than when the two teams met in the TNM Super League earlier this month.
As for the opposition, they are coming from a 2-0 defeat away to Waka Waka Mighty Tigers last Saturday. However, this is a different game as there will be one winner to face Blue Eagles in the final next month.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
When it comes to cup meetings between the two teams, Bullets have more victories than their Wednesday opposition.
The two teams have had several meetings in knockout games, with the last meeting dating back to August 2022 when Bullets knocked Moyale out of this competition on penalties. The match ended 4-4 in regulation time before a 4-2 victory for Pasuwa’s charges.
In 2008, the soldiers beat Bullets on penalties at Kamuzu Stadium to win the Standard Bank Knockout Cup. The regulation time ended 1-1 to take the game to penalties from which Chikumbutso Kanyenda missed his spot-kick to hand Moyale Barracks a 5-4 victory over The People’s Team.
But Bullets got their revenge in style when they defeated the soldiers 1-0 at Civo Stadium in the Presidential Cup through an early strike by Gabadinho Mhango in 2012.
Bullets also recorded a 1-0 victory to knock Moyale Barracks out of the Standard Bank Cup in 2015 at Mzuzu Stadium, courtesy of Diverson Mlozi’s strike, before we defeated the Lions of Kaning’ina 4-3 on penalties to win the 2016 Presidential Cup.
The following year, Moyale got the better of Bullets in the semifinals of the FISD Cup at Civo Stadium, winning 5-4 on post-match penalties after a 2-2 stalemate at the end of normal time.
In the current season, the two teams shared the spoils in both halves of the TNM Super League following goalless and 1-1 draws.
Overall, Bullets have four wins over the soldiers who have only defeated Pasuwa’s charges twice.
Only one match between the two teams ended in regulation time while five were decided through spot kicks.
Road to the semis
Moyale Barracks haven’t faced any top-flight league side in this edition. They reached this stage of the FDH Bank Cup competition after playing against three Premier Division teams.
They started their campaign with a comfortable 7-1 win over Chintheche United to progress to the Round of 16 where they hosted MMF Marine at Mzuzu Stadium where they won 4-1.
In the quarterfinals, Mwansa’s men travelled to Karonga Stadium to face Lube Masters and they had to overcome a very resilient side, beating them 2-1 to reach the semis.
Bullets haven’t had an easy run to reach this stage. Despite hammering Bangwe All Stars 5-0 in the Round-of-32, Pasuwa’s men had to overcome rivals Mighty Mukuru Wanderers with a 2-1 triumph to advance to the quarterfinals where Civil Service United was waiting.
Against the Lilongwe-based side, we had to rely on Precious Phiri’s late strike to edge the stubborn opposition to book a place in the semis.
TEAM NEWS
All players who featured against Zambian Red Arrows in the CAF Champions League on Sunday are available for selection.
However, Chikumbutso Salima will face a late fitness test while Lameck Gamphani and Wongani Lungu are cup-tied and will be watching from the terraces, having featured for Premier Bet Dedza Dynamos and Mzuzu City Hammers before joining the champions of Malawi this month.
As for Moyale Barracks, they have no injury concerns ahead of the match.
WHAT PASUWA SAID AHEAD OF THE SEMIS
On the eve of the 17h00 kick-off, we sat down with our head coach and below is the full transcript.
On Bullets’ approach to the game
Firstly, remember, we played a [CAF Champions League] game on Sunday and it needs one to have 45 hours to recover. I think today, we are going into 72 hours of resting, but again it’s how we are going to manage the game. Remember, we had knocks on some of the boys who were playing and yesterday on Monday, we rested them and today, we did our training and tomorrow, we are back into business. So, I am saying, to those guys who had knocks, we still need to see by tomorrow how they are and then we see how we can manage the game. But again, we are playing Moyale, a very physical team. We played them in Blantyre, we drew, 1-1 and in the first game again we drew 0-0. It’s going to be very interesting and I think the team that goes with the right mind approach will carry the day.
On what will be the difference this time around
They played a league match and we played an international match against Red Arrows and we played on the same pitch and it was a very tactical game, but again on this one, it’s not more of structured games that we play locally but we expect to have these guys having much of a run.
On avoiding diving attention with another foreign trip coming
We have been talking to the technical team and the players. Some of the boys will reserve themselves for the game that is coming on the weekend in the Champions League, but again this is a cup game that we are supposed to win and for us to go to the next round we need to put everything in place, but you know with players, sometimes you talk to them but they have got their mind but again. Yes, we have all the players around and we will try to push up.
On Bullets’ good record against local teams at BNS
Football being football, I always say we mustn’t talk much about history. Remember the players who were there are now gone and these are new sets of players that are coming in. So, for them to make their history, they play well, they win and then they are part of the history of not losing here at Bingu National Stadium.
KICK-OFF TIME AND HOW TO WATCH THE MATCH
The game is scheduled for 17h00 and you can catch all the action live on Mpira TV and MBC TV. It can also be streamed on FIFA+. You can also catch all the match updates on our Facebook and X (Twitter) channels.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Mayamiko Kanjere
Assistant Referee 1: Yohane Chiutika
Assistant Referee 2: Samson Wasili
Fourth Official: Alfred Chilinda
Match Commissioner: Goodwell Chinjoka
