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| Sports |
| A cool K5m at stake |
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by
Leonard Sharra, 24 October 2003
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14:16:23
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The K30.7m BP Top 8 competition will on Saturday afternoon reach its boiling point with the rightful owner of the K5m lion’s share determined at the Civo Stadium in Lilongwe where Mzuzu-based soldiers Moyale Barracks engage in a civil war against Blantyre giants Mighty MTL Wanderers.
Both Wanderers and Moyale have stormed into the final with one thing in common. They were runners up in their groups but went on to dismiss the leaders of each group in the semifinals. Moyale were responsible for Group B leaders Dwasco, whom they beat 3-2 and Wanderers crashed Group A kings Bakili Bullets via a 3-1 scoreline.
But both sides need to put aside memories of their sweet semifinal victories and concentrate on the final which will see the winner drawing a K5m cheque from the account of sponsors BP Malawi apart from driving home with the beautiful trophy.
Judging from the teams’ build up to the final, none of them is prepared to leave the stage without the staggering prize.
Moyale, who engaged the services of Flames team manager and Malawi Army football coach John Kaputa to tie the loose ends following the demise of their head coach Mabvuto Mwakibinga Nyondo have been preparing an ambush for the nomads in Salima since Tuesday.
The nomads stayed at their base Blantyre until Thursday when they drove straight to the battle field in the capital city.
“We did not send our boys into camp after the semifinals because we didn’t want to create unnecessary tension among them. However, we are not underrating Moyale. They have improved tremendously and have beaten some respectable teams.
“But we have to prove that we are superior to them. We have made special plans for them because they play a physical game,” said Wanderers general secretary Aubrey Monjeza.
Monjeza said they would be treating the BP Top 8 as their second cup this season after being robbed of the Carlsberg Cup.
“We won the Carlsberg cup although we were robbed by the referees and this will be our second cup.”
But Moyale’s secretary Captain Rodrick Mkaka could not be drawn into predicting the final result.
“The regulation 90 minutes or so will declare the winner. But we are geared to score more goals past the MG 1 (Goalkeeper Phillip Nyasulu). In fact, Wanderers should brace for heavy bombardments and counter bombardments. We want to grab the K5m prize,” said Mkaka.
For the nomads to grab the cup, they will rely on their five-man midfield comprising wonderboy Joseph Kamwendo, the rampaging Haji Tambala, tough Lawrence ‘Tico Tico’ Majawa, veteran Sherry Msuku, who is also vying for the golden boot award with three goals to his credit and winger Tendai Mbisa, who may exchange roles with Maxwell Chirwa.
Moyale will have the strongly-built Prichard Mwansa controlling the engine room with strikers Victor Phiri and Sammy Ngwira leading the assault.
At their back, player/coach Stereo Gondwe and hard-tackling Lameck Thindwa will place blocks to protect their armoury.
The prize list: winners K5m, runners up K1.7m, third place K750, 000, fourth place K220, 000, participation fee K150, 000, player of the tournament K150, 000, top goal scorer K150, 000, man of the match during the final game K50, 000. |
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