Bullets win IntoSports Cup
Big Bullets FC lived up to their reputation as off-season cup specialists when they edged their age-old rivals Mighty Wanderers 1-0 in a second leg tie of the K5 million Into Giants Peace Cup played at Civo Stadium on Saturday, March 1, 2014.
The two teams played a one-all draw in the first leg at Kamuzu Stadium and Wanderers, who were the home team in the second leg just needed to force a goal-less draw to claim the cup.
It was clear from the first whistle the Nomads were looking for the nil-all draw as they chose to knock the ball around. They never launched a meaningful attack on Bullets’ goal manned by veteran goalkeeper Vincent Gona.
The naïve approach by Wanderers backfired badly on the hour when the Bullets midfielder Henry Kabichi broke the deadlock after Bullets had caught their opponents on a counter-attack.
Wanderers’ coach Stewart Mbolembole dismissed suggestions that his side was playing for a goal-less draw, saying the muddy pitch slowed down the pace for his side.
“The pitch was heavy and we had difficulties to adjust to the condition of the pitch,” said Mbolembole, who only featured two new faces- Luke Milanzi and Wongani Zulu.
Bullets’ coach Lloyd Nkhwazi, who had a number of new faces on call including Fabio Kapinde from Mponela United said he was pleased with the victory, which he described as a good morale booster ahead of the new soccer season.
Nkhwazi lavished praise on new recruits Mussa Manyenje and Pilirani Zonda from Epac, who were both on the starting line-up.
The pint-sized Manyenje fitted well in Fischer ‘Anong’a’ Kondowe’s position and was quite a handful to the Nomads. Kondowe, who had reportedly joined Wanderers was neither on the Nomads or Bullets’ line-ups.
For winning the cup, Bullets got K3 million and the trophy with their rivals pocketing K2 million.
