Central Region Socials (CRS) claimed their 2nd Sports Administrators and Journalists (SAJ) on Sunday morning after thumping bitter rivals Southern Region Socials (SRS) 4-1 at Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe.
Former Silver Strikers winger Dave Moya scored a brace from free kicks while former Blue Eagles Team Manager Gabriel Chirwa scored the other goal before an own goal from Grey Nyirenda put the game beyond the visitors’ reach.
The annual event, which was established in 2014 with the aim of bringing together Sports Administrators and Sports Journalists, saw the latter being sidelined as teams opted for ex-Super League players as the rivalry between regions intensified.
The games got underway on Saturday, with newcomers Easter Region Socials thumping CR Socials B 9-0 to book themselves a place in the semi-final.
In other Saturday matches, SR Socials survived Northern Region Socials’ scare by recording a 3-2 victory to progress into SAJ finals before CR Socials completed the circle by beating ER Socials 3-0 to reach the finals.
And on Sunday, NR Socials taught ER Socials some footballing lessons after mauling the newcomers 6-1 to claim the third place position.
In the final, CR Socials were too hot to handle as they took a first half lead before completing the riot in the second half to retain their title.
Speaking to Malawi24, CR Socials Captain Gabriel Chirwa hailed his side for claiming the title but he was quick to admit that SAJ has lost its direction.
“Congratulations to the team for winning the cup. It wasn’t easy to reach this far. However, we are not happy with how this tournament is being organised. We feel that it has lost its direction whereby journalists are not being accommodated but we will talk to the National Organising Committee to revive our SAJ,” he said.
The losing coach Enos Chatama conceded defeat: “Congratulations to CR Socials for beating us with such a big margin, they played well and deserved the victory,” he said.
And speaking on behalf of the organizing committee, Chairman Ronald Chiwaula promised to improve in areas where things did not go right.
This years’ tournament received massive corporate support from Britam, Mpico, Alliance Capital, and Kukoma among others.
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