All eyes on Mchinji Villa if they can upset runaway leaders Red Lions in Match Week 14 of NBS Bank National Division League

* The Lions opened a 7-point lead of the second tier league last weekend by beating Mitundu Baptist 3-2 to amass 27 points

* Five ahead of Baka City, who beat FOMO FC 2-1. The loss pushed Mitundu from 2nd place to 3rd as Baka took the runners-up spot

* Red Lions hold the advantage of playing at home, Balaka Stadium and against a side that is in the relegation zone

By Duncan Mlanjira

While NBS Bank National Division League (NDL) title contenders, 2nd-placed Baka City and 3rd-placed Mitundu Baptist will be aiming to earn all three points in Match Week 14, they will also be banking their hopes on bottom of the table Mchinji Villa to stop runaway leaders Red Lions.

The Lions opened a 7-point lead of the second tier league last weekend by beating Mitundu Baptist 3-2 to amass 27 points — five ahead of Baka City, who beat FOMO FC 2-1. The loss pushed Mitundu from 2nd place to 3rd as Baka took the runners-up spot.

Red Lions hold the advantage of playing at home, Balaka Stadium and against a side that is in the relegation zone with 15 points from 3 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses. However, Mchinji Villa, who drew 0-0 with Ndirande Stars last Sunday, shouldn’t be ruled out as a walk in the park since they are fighting from being demoted.

Three teams will be relegated from the 12-member league — 9th to 12th, occupied by  Ntaja United (9th/15pts); Chilumba Barracks (10th/15pts); Mchinji Villa (11th/15pts); and Jenda United (12th/5pts).

Jenda face off with 8th-placed Ndirande Stars this afternoon at Mzuzu Stadium, who eye to move further away from the relegation zone as they have 17 points, two away from Ntaja United, Chilumba Barracks and Mchinji Villa.

Chilumba date 5th-placed Chintheche United on Sunday at Mzuzu Stadium, who share 17 points with Ndirande and 6th-placed FOMO FC. FOMO are up against 5th-placed Namitete Zitha (20pts) at Mulanje Park on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Baka City — who got relegated from the TNM Super League 2024 alongside FOMO FC — make a date with another 2024 elite league side, Bangwe All Stars this afternoon at Mpira Stadium.

Bangwe lie 4th on the table with 20 points, sharing Namitete Zitha while Mitundu Baptist (21pts) are away to Balaka Stadium to face Ntaja United.

The match that made all the difference at the top was that of Red Lions facing off Mitundu Baptist away at Civo Stadium, which was a cracker of a match as the leaders had to dig deep by coming from behind twice to level the scores and score the winner with just seven minutes to regulation time.

Red Lions won their first round encounter 2-0 at Balaka Stadium and on Sunday, it was Mitundu Baptist who scored first through their marksman and leading top scorer, Raheem Mtondera right in the 1st minute.

Just as it was expected that the match would go for recess with Mitundu leading 1-0, Red Lions equalised on the dot of 45 minutes through Kaliwo Harawa but Mtondera proved again that he is a man who should be closely watched throughout any match as 12 minutes after resumption, he put his team back in the lead and his brace — increasing his tally to 14th in the race for the end of season Golden Boot award.

But Harawa was also not undone as he claimed his brace to equalise four minutes later and the match continued to be a very exciting encounter as just two minutes later, Mitundu were awarded a penalty — but Charles Mbewe blew the ball over the bar.

They were to regret it as in the 83rd they were punished when Red Lions’ Ferguson Mtondo fired a fierce shot from outside the 18-yard box to take the lead all the way to the final whistle — with Ferguson Mtondo being voted Player of the Match.

From his performance, Mtondera earned himself a place in Team of the Week alongside Red Lions’ duo of Mtondo and Harawa while Ntaja United contributed two — goalkeeper Chisomo Willy and defender, Hussein Osman.

There were also two each from Chilumba Barracks (Kondwani Chirwa & Febbie Nyirenda) and Baka City (Enock Banda & Hastings Ndau) and one from Chintheche United (Lazarus Banda).