Flying Bullets
It is not always that you hear of a Malawian club flying its players for a local match.
In fact, the tradition of flying players to and from games was last heard of in the 1970s and 80s.
At that time, Bullets used to fly their prized asset, Kinnah Phiri, from Karonga to Blantyre when he was a student in the lakeshore district.
Other clubs also used to fly their players around until the late 1980s when they could no longer afford it.
The only way out was the use of road transportation, which teams are also finding unaffordable.
Which is why, hearing of a team flying its players to a football match in the present Malawian scenario is something extraordinary.
However, Nyasa Big Bullets have done it. They flew their team on a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) plane to Karonga yesterday from Blantyre’s Chileka Airport for today’s TNM Super League match against Karonga United.
Both Bullets and MDF did not come out clear on the development but Times has established that players for the People’s Team departed from the airport at around 9:30am and landed in Karonga around 11:00am.
Bullets, who top the log table with 17 points from seven matches, are eager to maintain their unbeaten run and may have flown their players to ensure that they do not suffer the effects of the long and tedious journey to Karonga.
Head Coach Rodgers Yasini admitted that beating Karonga would not be an easy task under the hot conditions of the lakeshore district.
Yasini will be without key players John Lanjesi, Chiukepo Msowoya and Patrick Phiri who are with the Flames at the Cosafa Cup tournament in Polokwane, South Africa.
Bullets are also missing the services of Sankhani Mkandawire, Pilirani Zonda, Emmanuel Zoya and Davie Banda who are nursing various degrees of injuries.
Yamikani Fodya and Henry Kabichi are reported to have recovered.
“It will not be easy especially when we do not have almost seven key players for this match. But we just have to soldier on by showing our superiority in the league.
“We have equally-capable players who can do the job as we aim at opening a seven-point gap. Playing against Karonga United is always tough considering the previous results. They have beaten us before and we cannot take things for granted. We know they will come hard just to humiliate us,” Yasin said.
In 2016 Bullets failed to clinch the league title after going down to Karonga 1-0 at the Mzuzu Stadium thanks to Hygiene Mwendepeka’s second half strike.
Karonga United head coach Christopher Nyambose, said they are not intimidated by Bullets’ show of grandeur.
“We are not shaken hearing the news that they chartered a plane to come here, we will meet them on the pitch. We would like to play our game and try as much as possible to win the match,” he said.
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