Africa-Press – Malawi. Nyasa Big Bullets yesterday displayed a splendid performance to claim a 3-1 victory over Moyale Barracks and eventually win the TNM Super League championship for the 16th time.
The Lions of Kaning’ina had threatened to erect a barricade to stop Bullets from winning a fourth straight title but ‘The People’s Team’ had other ideas. A brace from Lanjesi Nkhoma and one from Gomezgani Chirwa were all Bullets needed to retain the championship.
Bullets now have 67 points from 28 games while their close competitors, Blue Eagles, who are second with 59 points from 28 games, cannot overtake Bullets if they win their remaining two matches.
The maximum Eagles can get is 65 points. The People’s Team went into the game looking for a point to be assured of the league title and they made their intention known barely 20 minutes into the match when Nkhoma scored the opener.
He was nicely supplied into the box by Precious Sambani and made a first time connection to put his team ahead. Bullets’ utility right wing back, Chirwa, increased the lead 10 minutes later when he curved the ball past out-of-position Moyale goalkeeper Macdonald Harawa.
It was a goal that was a product of pure quality and great judgement as Chirwa saw that Harawa had left his line and had to shoot just after the centre line to make it 2-0. Coming from a 1-0 midweek victory over Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, the soldiers lacked proper game plan as they were second best throughout the first half.
After the break Nkhoma took the game beyond Moyale’s reach when he scored the third goal after an excellent exchange of passes five minutes in the final half. Moyale’s Lloyd Njaliwa exposed Bullets’ deficiency in defending set pieces when he headed into the net from a corner kick to reduce the arrears.
Moyale took control of the second half as The People’s Team sat back after seemingly being contented by the score line. But the hosts defended well and diffused the pressure.
The league’s leading top scorer Babatunde Adepoju was left frustrated after being tightly marked by impressive Maneno Nyoni in Moyale’s defence. Bullets Coach Kalitso Pasuwa hailed his charges for putting up a spirited and steady performance to win the title.
“Winning is about how you plan. If you plan well you win games. As Bullets we play so many games and we had to give chance to every player,” he said.
Moyale Coach Pritchard Mwansa blamed the loss on missed chances. “We had a lot of chances but we didn’t use them. We played well but we could have done better if we had utilised our chances,” he said.
Action in the league will continue on Sunday afternoon with Wanderers hosting Civil Service United at Kamuzu Stadium while Ekwendeni Hammers will entertain Kamuzu Barracks at Mzuzu Stadium.
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