Chiyesa begins Carlsberg Cup golden boot chase

Manase Chiyesa started the Carlsberg Cup golden boot chase on an impressive note on Friday when he scored a brace in Kamuzu Barracks’ 4-1 thumping of lower league side Ndirande Icons at Kamuzu Stadium.

Kamuzu Barracks joined the race in this round of 16 after finishing among last season’s top-eight TNM Super League outfits and Chiyesa could not wait any longer to hunt for the top-scorer’s accolade that comes with a K100 000 prize.

Others goals from Diouf Simaone and Ben Hojani helped the military side to become the first team to reach the quarter-finals of the knock-out competition.

Icons were the first to score through Harry Banda, but Chiyesa and Simaone made it 2-1 for Kamuzu Barracks at half time. Hojani and Chiyesa completed the rout by end of regulation time.

Last year, lower league side Zomba United pulled a shocker when they marched all the way to the finals where they lost 0-2 to eventual champions Big Bullets.

This year’s edition of the Carlsberg Cup has brought a lot of surprises as five lower league sides, namely Ndirande Icons, OP FC, Chilumba Barracks, Silver Reserves and Support Battalion, made it into the round of 16 at the expense of TNM Super League outfits.

Since the competition was established in 2000, Bullets have won it twice while Wanderers were the inaugural champions.

Kamuzu Barracks, Blue Eagles and Moyale Barracks are the other winners.