FCB Nyasa Bullets survived a scare from a determined Creck Sporting Club to win 1-0 and sail into Airtel Top 8 Trophy semis on Saturday at Nankhaka Stadium in Lilongwe.
Striker Maxwell Gastin Phodo was the hero of the afternoon as his goal made the difference.
It was an exciting game with end-to-end action as the two sides battled for a semi-final spot.
The hosts started strongly, pressuring Bullets, who were were lethargic in the early minutes.
In the 15th minute, George Chaomba nearly gave Creck the lead.
He outpaced and dribbled past two Bullets defenders, but could not beat Richard Chimbamba on one-on-one and the chance passed.
Despite the dominance, it was the visitors who found the net first in the 28th minute.
Henry Chiwaya floated a good ball into the box and Phodo was well positioned and focused to head the ball past Brighton Munthali.
The stadium erupted as the red and white fans, who were in large numbers, celebrated.
Creck kept on the pressuring Bullets and it nearly paid off with three minutes remaining before half-time, as Chiomba’s well measured shot hit the post.
At half-time it was 1-0 to the visitors Creck came into the second-half again with aggression as they attacked Bullets with vigour
Bullets conceded two cornerkicks within a space of three minutes as the hosts piled more pressure on the visitors.
But Creck could not make use of the set pieces as the visitors put up a solid barricade, frustrating forwards Chiomba and Kondwani Chilembwe.
The hosts become increasingly frustrated and resorted to long balls as Bullets dug deep and defended well.
Bullets nearly got a second goal with just two minutes remaining before full time but Munthali read the situation well to leave his line and denied Lloyd Aaron a scoring opportunity..
In a post-match interview, Creck Sporting coach Joseph Kamwendo was aggrieved with his forwards struggles to score.
“ In the fi r st-ha lf we had opportunities to score, but we were unlucky. Our main problem so far this season is that we are struggling to score.
“We can create chances, but fail to score. But now we will have to focus on the league.
“This is a young and promising team. Things will improve,” he said.Bullets coach Peter Mponda praised his players for a gallant fight
“It was a a difficult game. But we managed to score and we won. “I am happy with the fight the players put up. “It wasn’t a pretty perfomance, but we got the results,” he said.
