* Beat Silver Strikers in 3rd final meetings — a 4-3 win on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation with decider buried in by Kondowe
* Silver Strikers’ Festus Duwe wins the Golden Boot despite not playing in the final due to injury as teammate Uchizi Vunga is voted Man of the Match
By Duncan Mlanjira
Nyasa Big Bullets have proved to be much superior giants as they have retained the Airtel Top 8 beating the same opponents Silver Strikers at Bingu National Stadium and winning it for the third consecutive editions — and their 4th title in eight years since its inception in 2017.
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And it is a tremendous achievement for coach, Peter Mponda, who was the Bankers’ mentor last season in which he led the team to the first TNM Super League title in 11 years but failed to clinch the Airtel Top 8 against the Bullets — then coached by Kalisto Pasuwa.
Prior to taking over at Silver, Mponda was Pasuwa’s assistant and when he left, Mponda returned to his childhood team after one season with the Bankers — but with a bitter-sweet departure having not won a cup competition with the Capital City giants but just the league title.
Now he gets his satisfaction to win his first silverware as head coach of the Bullets after taking them to the 4th title — the first being in 2021, then 2023 and 2024, while Silver Strikers clinched the inaugural championship and in 2019.
The other winners are Blue Eagles, who clinched it in 2018 and Mighty Wanderers in 2022, who were ousted from the competition right at the very first rounds of two legs of the quarterfinals by Karonga United.
The road to the final for the Bullets started with a hard-fought 1-0 aggregate win over Creck Sporting Club after a goal-less first leg at Kamuzu Stadium while in the second, Maxwell Phodo scored the winner.
The Blantyre giants then saw off Karonga United in the semis 2-1 at Bingu National Stadium courtesy of goals from Isaac Salima and Hassan Kajoke while Silver Strikers reached this far by first seeing off Moyale Barracks 1-0 at home and 3-1 away before beating crosstown rivals, Civil Service in the semis.
The People’s Team went into the lead in the 50th minute through Phodo before Silver equalised 10 minutes later (65’) through Stanie Davie heading home a cross from Zebron Kalima.
According to bulletin updates by Silver Strikers Media, the Bankers went on the attack winning their first corner in just two minutes after the first whistle but Levsion Maganizo’s set piece was cleared.
A second corner was won in the 6th after Uchizi Vunga broke out of the midfield with an attack but the defence intercepted it for the second set piece which Maganizo again took but it was also cleared away for Staine Davie to fire from the rebound which went straight in the hands of the keeper.
Then the Bullets got a huge break in the 14th minute after being awarded a penalty following a a foul in the box but Babatunde Adepoju saw his shot saved by international George Chikooka.
Another missed opportunity for the Bankers was in the 19th minute winning a third corner, which Zebron Kalima curled it in for Nickson Mwase to head but narrowly missed the target.
The game then became balanced and in the 27th minute, goalkeeper Chikooka was made to save the team once more from a free kick, whose foul he created when he was penalises for handling the ball just outside the edge if the box — but Chikooka produced a fantastic save from the set piece.
Just before half time, the Bankers won a 4th corner but Maganizo’s set pice went straight at the goalkeeper for the teams to go for recess at 0-0 from which Nyasa Big Bullets took the lead in the 50th minute.
The build up was that Chikumbutso Salima chipped the ball inside the box which goalkeeper Chikooka tipped over for their first corner from which Phodo scored — his second goal of the tournament.
Bullets had made changes at the start of the second half bring in Ephraim Kondowe, who proved a super sub in the penalty shootout while the Bankers brought in Innocent Mtonga and Chinsisi Maonga in the 58th.
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The change brought in some life as seven minutes later Stanie Davie headed home the cross from Zebron Kalima for the equaliser — again his second goal of the tournament — one shot of his teammate Festus Duwe who was not featured due to injury.
But still Duwe has claimed the Golden Boot from his three goals since those with one apiece from both sides ahead of the game were Stain Davie, Nickson Mwase, and Emmanuel Allan from Silver — along with Maxwell Gasten Phodo, Hassan Kajoke, and Chikumbutso Salima from Bullets.
Festus Duwe
For any of them to overtake Duwe, they needed to score a hat-trick in the final, provided Duwe failed to add to his tally while his absence was also an advantage.
Both teams fought for a tie breaker to avoid going into penalties but it was not to be and tied at 3-3, it took Kondowe to earn the their third consecutive Zamadolo Airtel Top 8 title— and their historic 4th in five consecutive editions.
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Meanwhile, Duwe’s three goals as top scorer is way behind that for the all-time Airtel Top 8 scoring record by Nigerian Babatunde Adepoju, who netted an unmatched nine goals across his appearances, including an incredible eight-goal haul during the 2021 campaign and an additional goal in 2022 to cement his legacy.
Since its inception in 2017, the Airtel Top 8 has traditionally seen low-scoring Golden Boot winners as the inaugural award went to Khumbo Ng’ambi in 2017 with three goals, followed by Joseph Kamwendo (two goals in 2018), Khuda Muyaba (two goals in 2019), Lanjesi Nkhoma (two goals in 2023, shared), and Chinsinsi Maonga (three goals in 2024).—Match content by Silver Media, goal stats by FAM Media
