Blue Eagles once again missed out on automatic qualification for the Standard Bank Trophy following a 2-1 loss to Red Lions on Sunday.
Eagles will now depend on Standard Bank customers if they are to play in the competition.
“We really needed to win against Red Lions but things just did not work. Though bad but that’s the way things work out sometimes. It was not our day,” said coach Deklerk Msakakuona.
Eagles have won 12 games, lost 11 and drawn five times to drop 43 points in the process.
The loss comes after a defeat to Civo United last Saturday.
For Civo, a slip by Eagles was a blessing to them as they made it into the top six after beating Escom United on Saturday.
“Our qualification depended on other team’s performance but now we are safe. It’s not right to depend on votes for us to play in the Standard Bank Top Eight,” said the club’s general secretary Rashid Ntelera.
The position is a far cry from a team that was aiming for the title at the start of the season, but the firing of Coach Alex Masanjala, made things worse for them.
Civo have won 12 games, lost 10 times and drawn six times dropping 42 points.
Tigers have finished on position nine well out of even the top eight.
Meanwhile, out of the three rookies Bvumbwe United, Kabwafu and Kamuzu Barracks (KB), only KB has survived relegation.
KB has even finished on a better position than Mafco and Epac.
“I think if we had been more clinical in finishing we could have made it into the top six. There were games we dominated but lack of sharpness upfront cost us points. It’s a lesson we have learnt and next season we need to work hard on finishing,” said KB coach Kenwood Nkhoma.
