Four in a row
Nyasa Big Bullets’ Charity Shield dominance continued yesterday when they won it for the fourth consecutive time after beating their age-old rivals Be Forward Wanderers 1-0 at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
Burly forward Chiukepo Msowoya’s 66th minute strike ensured that the People’s Team maintained their stranglehold on their ‘neba’.
Bullets have been dominating the Charity Shield since its inception in 2016 when they also beat Wanderers. They triumphed over Kamuzu Barracks (KB) in the 2017 edition.
Last year, they retained the glory following an emphatic 3-0 win over capital city giants Silver Strikers at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe.
Yesterday, Msowoya lurched on to a diagonal pass in the box from Mike Mkwate and drove a powerful shot past goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa. Mkwate made it easy for Msowoya after outpacing a forest of Wanderers defenders in the middle of the park.
“It feels great to start the new season with the Charity Shield in our hands. Our players played according to instructions and I am happy with this achievement,” said Bullets coach Callisto Pasuwa.
It was mostly a balanced affair in front of a mammoth crowd, but it was Bullets that had the most scoring chances.
Wanderers were determined to banish the demons that tormented them during last year’s edition that saw them finishing fourth without scoring in two games, having conceded three. However, they failed to create their fortunes with their striker Babatunde Adepoju being the biggest culprit of wasting chances.
“It was bad to lose in this manner. It is a timely wake up call for us to rectify our shortfalls, especially in midfield and up front. We lacked the bite in this game,” said Wanderers team manager Stevie Madeira.
Wanderers booked their slot in the final with an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Masters Security while Bullets did it with a 2-1 victory over Blue Eagles on Saturday.
In the third-place match, Masters beat Blue Eagles 5-4 on post-match penalties after a one-all draw in regulation time.
Mussa Manyenje drew first blood for Masters in the 56th minute with a close-range thunderbolt that left goalkeeper George Tchauya rooted to the ground. Eagles restored parity four minutes later through Grant Zakumbuyo, who connected home a beautiful pass from Micium Mhone.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) competitions sub-committee chairperson Jabbar Alide said proceeds from the two-day event will go towards supporting people with albinism. The theme of this year’s event was One Love, Stop the Killing. This year’s event was sponsored by Ecobank to the tune of K12 million.
