Nomads lose to UD Songo

Be Forward Wanderers yesterday lost 1-0 to Mozambican national Mocambola League champions in a strength-testing match in Songo.

The match, played in scorching conditions, was part of the two teams’ preparations for the CAF which will roll into life next month.Champions League preliminaries

The lone-goal of the match came in the second minute even before the fans had the feel of the action after an interlude of spell-binding passes which resulted in Songo’s Nigerian new signing Emmanuel Etimu providing the final flourish past Nomads goalkeeper Richard Chipuwa.

The Nomads made five changes in the second-half— resting Chipuwa, Ted Sumani, captain Joseph Kamwendo, Niikiza Aimable and Rafiq Namwera for William Thole, Precious Sambani, Dan Kumwenda, Mike Kaziputa and Blrsdings Tembo, respectively.

Songo also made several changes that saw both Banda and his compatriot Charles Swini being substituted in the second-half.

Nomads team manager Stevie Madeira played down the loss, saying the match was more about assessing the new players and gelling them with their old counterparts.

“We only started training on Tuesday, so a win could have been a bonus.

“We played a good game [and] it’s unfortunate that we conceded in the early minutes of the game.

“Otherwise, we are impressed with performance as the boys picked up as the game progressed in the second-half and we finished strongly, we also missed four good chances towards the end,” he said.

Songo’s Malawian midfielder Frank Banda hailed the Nomads for what he described as a “satisfactory performance”.

Said Banda: “They have built a good team they just need to work on their finishing and build-ups.

“Otherwise they gave us a good game. It was 50-50 and I am sure they can do well in the CAF tourney if they work on their shortfalls.”

The Nomads will face AS Vita from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in first-leg away between February 9 and 11.