Newly crowned TNM Super League champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets were made to sweat for their 4-2 win over a non-league side, Soche Socials, in the Castel Challenge Cup Round of 32 match at Kamuzu Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Kalisto Pasuwa made ten changes to the side that drew 1-1 against Silver Strikers on the final day of the season as he only maintained Richard Chimbamba in his starting eleven.
However, the victory didn’t come on a silver platter as the opposition came with a high pressing performance in the second half following some errors in defense.
What happened
From the first four minutes, Thomson Magombo created a shooting space and saw his powerful volley hitting the post, but there was none from Bullets to score from the rebound as the visitors cleared the danger away from home.
Two minutes later, Bullets broke the deadlock through Chinedu Okafor, who made a sprinted run from a MacFarlane Mgwira’s through ball, and the tall forward wasted no time by beating Miles Jafali before volleying the ball into the net.
With 12 minutes played, Okafor should have doubled his tally, but he failed to connect home a cross from Stanley Billiat, who delivered an excellent ball into the box.
The visitor’s first attempt at the goal came after 13 minutes when Grayson Msowoya made a brilliant run before sending a very dangerous cross into the box. But Nickson Nyasulu, who captained the side, made a timely clearance, and from the rebound, Francis Banda fired wide.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 15th minute through Peter Banda, who got the better of Davie Kochanga and released a very powerful shot that caught Jafali off guard before going into the net from the near post, 2-0.
Bullets kept on creating chance after chance, with Okafor missing yet another golden opportunity when he failed to finish off a cross from Billiat in the 25th minute.
Nyasulu was next in line to create a chance in the 35th minute. The defender was found unmarked by Banda’s corner kick, but instead of making an easy tap in, he went for power and blasted his effort over the crossbar from a close range when the goal was wide open.
Forty minutes on the clock, Magombo missed a chance when he found himself on the receiving end of Mgwira’s throughball. The attacking midfielder sent his volley wide when Jafali was already beaten in the line of duty, and that was all for the half.
After the recess, a slow start to the game by Bullets allowed Soche Socials to gain grounds in terms of pressing and possession.
A statement of intent was made by the visitors in the 47th minute when Msowoya, who was causing more problems to Eric Kaonga, opened Bullets’ defense before firing wide closer to Chimbamba’s penalty box.
Banda had his long-range shot well saved by Jafali, and in the process, the winger sustained an injury to his much troubled shoulder before being replaced by Righteous Banda in the 51st minute.
The non-league side was able to find the back of the net in the 52nd minute through Precious Chadza, who headed home from Msowoya’s cross, beating Chimbamba in his six-yard box, 2-1.
Pasuwa then brought in Hassan Kajoke for Okafor to try to get more goals and manage the game for the remaining minutes as the visitors were now pressing and attacking using their right-hand side where Kaonga was failing to handle Msowoya.
The visitors brought in Daniel Motolino for Francis Banda in the 58th minute. Kaonga conceded a foul closer to the penalty box, but Msowoya’s delivery was well defended by Nyasulu.
After the hour-mark, Billiat failed to tap in the ball from Magombo’s cross when the goal was wide open and Jafali was nowhere near the action area. The winger saw his goal-bound effort well blocked by Jasten Tylos.
But Kajoke restored the two-goal cushion with a beautiful finish from a Billiat’s cross, 3-1.
With a two-goal disadvantage, the visitors introduced Thomas Simbi for Amos Chaminingo to close the gap in the midfield, which was mostly dominated by the hosts through Kenneth Pasuwa and, Chawanangwa Gumbo.
Ephraim Kondowe and Maxwell Phodo were also brought in for Billiat and Magombo, while Sherrif Sadik made his debut when he replaced Chimbamba.
With five minutes left on the clock, Chimwemwe Mberenga tapped in a cross from Msowoya who, for the fifth time in the match, got the better of Kaonga before delivering a grasscutter into the box, 3-2.
Kondowe should have restored the two-goal advantage, but he failed to beat Jafali in a one-on-one situation.
But the match was completely buried in Bullets’ favor in the 90th minute through Phodo, who made a first-time connection from Banda’s cross, 4-2, and that was all for the match.
The win means Bullets will host Civil Service United in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
In his post-match reaction, Pasuwa said he was only looking to play the game and proceed to the next phase of the competition.
“A game that we wanted to go through. Remember, we have been traveling a lot and we are trying as much as we can to manage our squad to recover and we brought in fringe players to have playing minutes and even though we struggled with combination, the good thing we got the goals and proceeded to the next round,” he said.
