By KALUMIANA KALUMIANA, SANDRA MWILA and RONALD CHAWE –
BRUCE Mwape says he is delighted to have been given a welcome victory following Nchanga Rangers’ home win over Power Dynamos on Saturday.
Nchanga shocked Power 2-1 at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola to hand the visitors their first loss of the 2016 MTN/FAZ Super League season and halt the away sides prospects of staying top for a second week.
“I feel good because the players have given me a win which is good welcome for me. It is actually a step forward because next week we will be playing Zanaco and this will boost the morale of the team,”
Mwape said after his first game in-charge following his appointment last week.
Power coach Tennant Chilumba said the result was a minor setback despite the loss coming a week before their big Copperbelt derby at home in Kitwe against Zesco United.
“We are still okay, I am happy the boys put up a good performance that I can rate at 75 per cent. It is a disappointing result and if you are in the championship race you should not drop points,” Chilumba said.
In Lusaka, promoted Lusaka Tigers coach Chanda Mwape said the 2-0 defeat suffered against Zanaco was an eye opener for coming games.
Mwape said in a post match interview that his side expect tough games in the elite league and will continue to prepare adequately.
“The defeat is an eye opener because we expect such tough games in the super league. We gave Zanaco a good run for their money though we still have to go back to the drawing board,” he said.
Zanaco assistant coach Dubid Chilufya bragged that his team always struggles to beat small teams.
“We always struggle to beat small teams, we could have done better. In the first half we created a lot of chances we failed to utilise but in the second half we played better,” Chilufya said.
Nkwazi coach Elijah Chikwanda was left fuming after watching his side lose 2-1 to ‘mighty’ Mufulira Wanderers.
Chikwanda said the team’s early performances leave much to be desired but was, however, optimistic that Nkwazi would soon find its form and start collecting maximum points.
Wanderers coach Manfred Chabinga said he is hoping his team will continue with a perfect home ground advantage for the second season running.
Lumwana Radiant’s coach Allan Kamwanga has called on the players to stay focused if they are to avoid relegation following their 1-1 draw against Red Arrows.
He said playing experienced teams in the super league would not be easy and praised his side for putting up a good performance.
“We played an experienced team in Arrows and they gave us an insight on what we should expect as we progress. But that does not mean that we were not equal to the task. We played some good football and we are
going to work on those mistakes we made in the next match.” he said.
Arrows coach Mathews Phiri said his players were yet to find their form as they have not trained as a unit as some of them just returned from undergoing military training.
“We need to work harder and find our form, build the team spirit and forget about this first result. We need maximum concentration because we have just started as a term. So let’s remain focused and target to achieve our results,” Phiri said.