Blue battle. The two blue-attired teams, Silver Strikers and Mighty Wanderers will, for the first time, face off in the final of the FDH Bank Cup season five after overpowering their rivals, Civil Service United and FCB Nyasa Big Bullets respectively.
The Central Bankers beat the Servants 1-0 on Saturday at Bingu National Stadium with striker, Andrew Joseph scoring the winner in the 88th minute while the Nomads were 1-0 winners over Big Bullets on Sunday with Promise Kamwendo scoring the winner in the 89th minute.
The two teams will look to battle for the prestigious tournament on Sunday, 9th November at Bingu National Stadium in the Capital City. This will be the first cup final meeting between the two heavyweights since December, 2018 when the Nomads beat the Bankers 3-2 to win the Fisd Challenge Cup.
Speaking after the game on Saturday, Silver Strikers Assistant Coach, Kent Mapopa Msukwa praised the players for their relentless effort to snatch the winner late in the game.
“It warms a derby game and as usual, it’s tough. We came to find an early goal but Civil came better but the goodness is that we managed to defend well and find the winner late in the game.
“Civil were a better team in the second half after we dominated the first half, we thought that it was going to be an easy game but it wasn’t like that, we made the changes, we added up the number of attackers and we managed to get the winner, we appreciate the players for their effort,” he said.
Abbas Makawa, Head Coach for Civil Service United rued missed chances saying it was a game which they did well to win but unfortunately, they lost the game.
“In football, if you don’t utilize chances, you get panished, it was a game which we did well. See created chances. We were a team which was better in terms of chances, but we can’t blame the players, they are the same players who have been helping us to win games. We just have to congratulate Silver for the win,” said Makawa.
In Blantyre, Bob Mpinganjira praised his players for once again, beating their rivals for the third time this season after beating them twice in the league.
Sunday’s semifinal clash presented a stark contrast to Wanderers’ previous two encounters with Bullets this season. In their earlier meetings, the Nomads had completely dominated their rivals, registering a 1-0 victory in the first round of the TNM Super League before administering a comprehensive 3-0 thrashing in the second round. In both matches, Wanderers were superior in every department, controlling possession, creating chances, and dictating the tempo of the game.
However, the cup semifinal told a different story. Bullets arrived at the stadium with renewed determination and tactical adjustments that troubled the league leaders throughout the match. For long periods, the Peter Mponda-coached side looked the more likely to break the deadlock, testing Wanderers’ defensive resolve and goalkeeper with sustained pressure.
“It was a very good and tough game because Bullets came with new ideas and they played very well,” Mpinganjira admitted in his post-match assessment. “In short, I can say that it was a balanced game, but I’m just happy that we have finished on top.
Our aim is to do well in this competition, we have never won it and our mission is to win this tournament. But it will depend on our hard work. We are playing against Silver Strikers and we will try to do well.”
Peter Mponda while admitting that the defeat was painful, praised just players for the performance.
“I feel for the supporters because we haven’t given them what they deserve,” Mponda said, his voice heavy with regret. “But the performance today was good. We dominated the game in both halves, but unfortunately, we are on the losing side again.
“Wanderers scored from out of the blue, they capitalized on our loose marking, they scored, they punished us. It’s very painful to take with the way we played today. We dominated the game, we did everything to win it. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen.
“The players gave their all, only that the result didn’t favor us. It’s very painful to take this result with the way we played today. The boys had the fighting spirits, they wanted to win it at all cost. It’s just unfortunate that they are on a losing side again.”
Wanderers are in the final of this tournament for the first time since it was rolled out in 2021 while for Silver, this will be their second time being in the final of this competition after winning it in 2021 when they beat Mzuzu City Hammers, then Ekwendeni Hammers.
