By Nephtali Kalumbi & Shaffie Bakali
Mangochi All Stars Football Club on Friday came from behind to thrash Changalume Barracks Football Club 4-1 at Mangochi Stadium to proceed to the next round of the 2024/2025 FDH Bank Cup.
The Zomba based soldiers took the lead in two minutes of the first half through a thunder bolt from their goal poacher, Amidu Mapila, but striker for the hosts, Husseni Sanudi cancelled the lead in the 16th minute before Madalitso M’bwana scored a leading goal for the host in the 47th minute of the first half.
In the second half, the visitors started on high note with the hope of finding an equalizer but their hopes were shattered by M\’bwana\’s second goal in the 68th minute which widened the score line margin to 3-1 before Friday Chiphwanya hammered the last nail two minutes later to give the supporters a reason to start celebrating their victory before the final whistle.
Speaking in a post-match interview, Coach for Mangochi United Football Club, Amidu Samuel Banda was delighted that his team played the match according to instructions issued during match preparations.
“Let me praise my boys for the grand fight, they played according to game plan,” said Banda.
On his part, Assistant Coach for Changalume Barracks, MacDan Njovuyalema, accepted defeat stating that the soldiers were second on the ball and performed poorly.
“We need to accept the loss; today we have performed poorly and we congratulate Mangochi All Stars for the win as well as wish them good luck in the next round,” said Njovuyalema.
In other fixtures, which took place at Monkey Bay, Mangochi based soldiers; the Malawi Maritime Force FC beat Ntaja United by 4-1 whilst Lipulumundu Stars were humbled by Nyambadwe United by a goal to nil.
The 2024/2025 FDH Bank Cup commenced on May 25 this year, with a total of 70 teams in all the regions of the country.
According to the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) Competitions Director, Gomezgani Zakazaka, this year\’s package has been adjusted upwards from K120 million to K150 million, where the champions will walk away with K35 million from K30 million while the runners up will cart home K15 million from the previous K7 million.
The FDH Bank cup started in 2021 with Silver Strikers clinching the cup once while the current holders, Nyasa Big Bullets, has clinched it twice.
