Chiukepo (L) with the trophy. (Picture courtesy of Wanderers media)
Former Nyasa Big Bullets duo of Chiukepo Msowoya and Miracle Gabeya are the first outfield players to win back-to-back Airtel Top 8 titles with two different clubs since the competition was launched in 2017.
The two were part of Bullets’ 2020/21 squad that won the Cup in December last year before they got released by Kalisto Pasuwa at the start of the just ended campaign.
Now twelve months later, they celebrated again but in different colors after Mighty Mukuru Wanderers got the better of their bitter rivals on penalties to win the Cup for the first time and to end their trophy drought that lasted for more than three years.
Gabeya will be the happiest of the two after he started his Wanderers career on a bad note.
In August this year, The Nomads travelled to Lilongwe to face Silver Strikers in a league match.
At 1-1, with less than ten minutes left to play, a long ball from The Central Bankers’ half caught the defender napping as he flicked it direct to Stain Davie who made no mistake but to slot the ball past Richard Chipuwa and that was the winning goal and the defender was publicly rebuked by his former assistant coach Joseph Kamwendo who accused him of being “inconsistent” since joining the team from Bullets.
But that embarrassment at the hands of Silver was a turning point in his career at The Lali Lubani side. He got himself up, never looked back and focused on the future and he became an important part of the team even though they failed to win the league and FDH Bank Cup.
In the just concluded Cup, he was a backbone of Nomads defence and it was not surprising to see the newly crowned champions playing all the games without conceding a goal.
And on the final day, when his services were needed to take a spot kick, he stepped up without fear to score one of the penalties that saw Mark Harrison’ side beating Pasuwa’s charges 5-3 after a stalemate in the normal time.
“I am very happy with what I have achieved at Wanderers in my first season and I am looking forward to winning more with this club. It wasn’t a good start after switching sides but I slowly adapted and now I am here. I am very thankful to my head coach and previous coaches for putting their trust in me. They restored my confidence and I am enjoying my game,” he said.
Apart from the two, their teammate Vitumbiko Kumwenda has also won it twice. He won it with Blue Eagles in 2018 before moving to Wanderers last season and lady luck smiled at the attacking midfielder as he has just won the cup again with his new club.
The trophy means Wanderers have joined their rivals as one of the teams to win the Cup after they failed to do so in its inaugural season when they lost 10-9 to Silver Strikers at the same venue.
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