FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Reserve completed the Champion Cup quarterfinal line-up after edging Namitete Zitha 2-1 in a tightly contested round-of-16 match at Champion Stadium in Mponela, Dowa District, on Sunday.
The other teams in the last eight of the K13 million competition are Mighty Mukuru Wanderers Reserve, Simbi, Villa, Kalonga Rovers, Kamuzu Barracks Reserve, MP Roma and Baka City.
Namitete went into the match on a mission of avenging a similar score line defeat they suffered at the hands of Bullets Reserve in an AG Dimba semi-final match at AG Dimba Stadium in Mchinji District about two weeks ago.
The Chipiku Central Region Football League Association Premier Division side’s mission seemed to be well on course as it took the lead in the 35th minute through a penalty that Richard Kayira converted.
This gave Namitete a 1-0 lead at half time.
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But Bullets Reserve weathered the storm in the second half and pulled level through Chrispin Mapemba, who also converted from the spot 67 minutes into the match, before Andrew Lameck netted the winner seven minutes later.
Namitete Coach Martin Mkamanga blamed officiation for his team’s loss.
“We have played good football throughout the entire 90 minutes but we are questioning the decision of the referee to award Bullets Reserve a penalty when his assistant was signaling for a corner kick. This is not football. We thought we would have fair officiation here, unlike what we experienced at AG Dimba Stadium, but it is all the same. The referee has messed up big time,” Mkamanga said.
His Bullets Reserve counterpart Enos Chatama said he knew that the match would be tough.
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“This was an opponent we faced at AG Dimba about two weeks and we knew the match would be about revenge. After we were 1-0 down, we told our players to keep fighting. This resulted into the two goals we scored in the second half. It was all about having fighting spirit. But we faced an opponent who played good football and the match was worth it,” Chatama said.
