Blantyre Zero are U-20 Fam Cup women football champs
Blantyre Zero on Saturday, December 21, 2013 emerged national champions for the K9 million Fam U-20 Women Football Cup after triumphing during the national finals held at Nankhaka Ground in Lilongwe’s Area 30.
The girls from Malawi’s commercial city emerged champions after accumulating the highest number of points during the day-long national finals, which attracted champions from each of the country’s three regions.
Other finalists included Matindi Girls Academy, who were champions in Central Region and Northern Region representatives Moyale Barracks. The champions represented the Southern Region.
During the national play-offs, which were played on round robin format, Matindi drew two-all against Moyale before settling for a goal-less draw against Blantyre Zero. The last game involving Blantyre Girls and Moyale saw the girls from Southern Region edging their Northern Region counterparts 1-0 to finish top with four points.
Phyllis Kagunda headed in the all-important goal 10 minutes into the second half after Pilirani Malola’s corner kick.
Bt Zero coach Maggie Chombo was all smiles after the whistle, praising her girls for following instructions.
“We did not have a grand game in our game against Matindi but during the last game, the girls played according to instructions. We told them that even one goal would be enough to win us the cup and we got it.
“The young girls have paid for the sins of their seniors, who have been failing at the last hurdle and we thank God for all this. It’s not me or the girls but God, who has made things possible for us,” said Chombo.
For winning the cup Blantyre Zero received gold medals, MK1 million and a trophy with runners-up Matindi getting K750,000 and silver medals. Moyale, who had a single point from their drawn game against Matindi received K500,000 and bronze medals.
Zione Robert from Matindi and Naomi Mwale from Moyale received K30,000 each as top goal scorer and player of the tournament, respectively. There were also cash prizes for best media coverage of the competition.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Justin Saidi presided over the presentation ceremony.
The competition started from district level before going into the regional and national phase and winners at each level also received cash prizes.
National Women Football Committee president Severia Chalira described the tournament as a big success, saying the onus was now on Fam, her committee and other stakeholders to develop and expose the young talent that emerged from the competition.
