…as Silver thump Blue Eagles, to face Bangwe All Stars in other semis…
A dominant display from the newly crowned TNM Super League champions FCB Nyasa Big Bullets saw them hammering Ekwendeni Hammers 4-0 in the Castel Challenge Cup quarterfinal match to set up a semifinal showdown against Mighty Mukuru Wanderers.
It was a game which was mostly dominated by the hosts against a side that was also good in terms of keeping possession, but they did less than what was required of them to do in a very frustrating afternoon for the Northern Region based outfit.
What happened
In the opening ten minutes of the half, the hosts had more than five set pieces, which they failed to utilize and create something out of them.
Precious Sambani was handed an opportunity from a freekick closer to Hammers’ penalty box, but the skipper blasted his effort over the cross bar for a goal kick.
Moments later, Patrick Mwaungulu’s delivery from yet another freekick was well dealt with by goalkeeper Innocent Kamwambi, who replaced the first choice shot-stopper, Micah Chiyenda, a brother to our own, Rabson Chiyenda.
But the deadlock was broken in the 11th minute through Kajoke, who tapped in from a cross from Ernest Petro from a shot corner kick taken by Mwaungulu, 1-0.
Kalisto Pasuwa’s charges should have doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Kajoke found Maxwell Phodo inside the penalty box, but the forward, who dribbled past three opposition defenders before shooting at goal, was denied by Kamwambi’s left-hand post.
But a minute later, it was 2-0. Lanjesi Nkhoma exchanged passes with Sambani, who delivered a million-dollar cross into the box for Mwaungulu to connect home from the close range with a powerful header, 2-0.
At this point, the visitors were yet to launch any meaningful attacks on Bullets, as the hosts kept on passing the ball at will and were very dangerous on the counter, but some of the chances created weren’t converted into goals.
It took more than a half-hour mark for Elias Chirambo’s men to have a shot at goal. This attempt came in the 33rd minute through Jimmy Msiska, who was denied by Richard Chimbamba, his first involvement in the match.
With 36 minutes played, Nkhoma made his way into the offensive zone before creating for himself a shooting space, which he eventually did, but he was denied by Kamwambi, who produced a save.
Kamwambi could not do anything in the 39th minute when Mwaungulu set up Kajoke clear on sight. The forward unleashed a very powerful shot to further extend Bullets’s lead before the interval, 3-0.
The visitors were able to win back the ball from the hosts, but whenever in attack, they were easily losing possession to the hosts who were very quick in tracking, area recovery, and when attacking.
After the recess, Blessings Mpokera came in for Clyde Senaji in defense to partner Nickson Nyasulu.
It was a slow start to both teams, with Bullets slowing down in terms of creating chances while Hammers were more of defending to avoid collateral damage.
Mwaungulu should have doubled his tally in the 47th minute when he made his way into Hammers’ penalty box, but his shot was well saved by Kamwambi for a corner kick.
From the set piece, Mwaungulu played a short one to Nkhoma, who sent a diagonal ball to the far end. Nyasulu arrived on time, but he blasted his effort over the crossbar when Kamwambi was nowhere near his goal area.
Chirambo introduced Samson Chiona and Brian Phiri for Sammy Phiri and Wongani Lungu to try to get something out of the game.
With the hour mark played, Phodo dribbled past two Ekwendeni Hammers defenders before being brought down by Chikumbutso Henderson inside the penalty box, but center referee, who was very close to the incident area, waved play on, but the forward got injured in the process and he was replaced by Peter Banda.
It was Brian Phiri who almost reduced the arrears when he connected well from a Blessings Singini’s delivery from a freekick, but he headed wide inside the six-yard box.
In the 68th minute, Ephraim Kondowe and Chawanangwa Gumbo came in for Kajoke and Petro, but the forward only lasted for few minutes as he got injured in the 76th minute and he was replaced by Stanley Billiat.
The match was put beyond the visitors’ reach in the 77th minute through an excellent goal from Sambani, who calmly controlled the ball before unleashing a rocket to beat Kamwambi in the line of duty, 4-0.
There were few more chances to Bullets towards the end of the match, but Gumbo, Billiat, Banda, and Nkhoma all missed from the close range, but in the end, Bullets hammered their opponents to reach the last four of the competition.
At Bingu National Stadium, a brace from Patrick Macheso and lone strikes from Emmanuel Kaunga and Innocent Shema inspired Silver Strikers to a comfortable 4-2 win over Blue Eagles to advance to the semis where they will face Bangwe All Stars.
Eagles were the first to break the deadlock in the early minutes through defender Jacob Robert, but Kaunga leveled the scoreline moments later.
Macheso gave the Central Bankers a lead with a beautiful finish, but MacDonald Lameck equalized from the spot after a foul on Christopher Gototo by Nickson Mwase.
Two more goals followed in the final half through Shema, who scored from the spot before Macheso’s second goal of the match to seal a convincing win and set up a semifinal game against Bangwe.
Dates and venues for these blockbuster matches will be announced by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) in due course.
