The third edition of the FDH Bank Cup got underway on Wednesday across the nation, with the final fixtures of the first games taking place on Thursday in all three regions.
With defending champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets, Moyale Barracks, Extreme FC and Kamuzu Barracks completing their mission on day one to progress to the round 16, it was now the turn for Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, Silver Strikers, Mafco FC, Mpondas FC, Ntaja United and Ekwendeni Hardknockers to battle it out for a place in the next stage of the competition.
The Central Bankers welcomed Ntaja United at Bingu National Stadium to try and be one of the TNM Super League teams to qualify for the last 16.
This was a David v Goliath match as Ntaja United are currently campaigning in the ThumbsUp Southern Region Football League while the area 47 based side are topping the standings in the Super League with 21 points from nine games.
As usual, the hosts showed no mercy as they hammered their opponents 5-0 to send a statement of intent to fellow contenders that they mean business this time around.
Peiter De Jhong’s charges scored the goals through a brace from Adel Kaduya and lone strikes from Atusaye Nyondo, Stain Davie, and Chimwemwe Idana.
Elsewhere, Wanderers left it late to beat a resilient Mpondas FC through second half goals from Vincent Nyangulu and Chiukepo Msowoya.
The first half ended goalless and it took Wanderers 74 minutes for them to break the deadlock through Nyangulu who came in as a second half substitute in place of Christopher Kumwembe, before Msowoya’s last minute goal to seal the victory for Mark Harrison’s side.
At Chitowe, a hat-trick from Zikani Sichinga and another strike from Peter Kasonga secured an important win for Mafco FC over Ekwendeni Hardknockers who scored their consolation goals through Cyrus Msiska and Tymon Gomeka.
This means Sichinga became the first player in the Cup’ history to score a hat-trick, and he is the current scorer with three goals, seconded by Bullets’ Hassan Kajoke and Silver’ Kaduya.
So far, no up upsets in the first games played as to compared to what happened last season when the likes of Changalume Barracks, Extreme FC and Bullets Reserves eliminated top teams in the early stages of the competition.
The final round 32 matches will be played from Sunday to Wednesday next week.
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