FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserves were unable to seize the opportunity to claim the top spot in Group B of the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League following a 1-1 draw against Nyambadwe United at Kamuzu Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Eric Sadia put the visitors in front early in the first half before Blessings Mwamadi levelled things up just before the interval.
Match highlights
Starting the match off the boil, Bullets Reserves quickly fell behind in the tie as the visitors opened the scoring just four minutes from the first whistle.
Our back-line failed to clear what seemed to be a lame long ball into the area and Sadia, well positioned and well anticipated, popped up to dink the ball past goalkeeper Austin Chirambo who was off his line.
Stunned by the early goal, the lads in red and white colours struggled to settle as the tie unfolded as the visitors came first on the ball with physical intensity.
While trying to find their feet into the match, Maule were dealt with the blow of losing midfielder Sladge Sanudi due to an ankle injury. This forced coach Enos Chatama to make a twist to his game plan as he introduced centre-back Happy Mphepo for Edward Thengo on top of replacing Sanudi with Blessings Mwamadi.
It was after these two changes that Bullets Reserves looked like taking over control of things.
Off the bench, Mwamadi went on to be the ideal change, equalizing two minutes before the half-time break.
Wongani Kaponya did a good job down the left flank to deliver the ball into the penalty area which found Mwamadi unmarked to easily head it home, registering a goal on his competitive debut and making it 1-1.
Beautifully poised, the second half rolled out with Bullets now looking very much at home and likely the next scorers.
Prince Chalera almost doubled the lead but squandered a glorious chance as he failed to show composure when he was nicely set up in the area.
Although they slowed down in the final chapter, Nyambadwe had their moments on the other end but just like our boys, they lacked the telling touch.
Near misses and desperate efforts made most of the closing stages of the tie. A mission to dislodge Ekhaya United at the top of Group B standings fell out for our boys as in the end they could only salvage a point, 1-1 it finished.
What it means
The midweek result means that Bullets Reserves have now recorded their fourth draw of the season.
From nine games played, our lads have accumulated 16 points. They sit second in Group B, just a point behind leaders Ekhaya.
Chatama’s reaction after the match
It was a good game only that we gave away a goal early in the tie, something which did not help us. Second half we pushed the game, it is just unfortunate that we are conceding unnecessary goals. Things are not going well in this spell, we just have to fix two, or three areas. We need to work harder from the start to the finish.
Looking ahead
What follows after Thursday’s match for Bullets Reserves is another league encounter, our tenth this season. We will play Ekhaya FC away at Mpira Stadium next week.
