By Edwin Mbewe
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The 2022 Chipiku Premier division league second round set to kick off this coming weekend as the twelve teams that qualified from the first round have been drawn into two groups of six teams.
The Central Region football governing body (CRFA) conducted the draw at Civo Club House in the capital Lilongwe, as follows, group A:St Gabriel Medicals, Silver Strikers Reserve FC, Villa FC, Airborne Rangers FC, Wimbe United FC and Mbabvi United FC.
Teams in group B are:LUANAR FC,Extreme FC,Support Battalion FC, Kamuzu Barracks Reserve FC, Ngwanje FC and Kawinga FC.
The teams will play each other on home and away format.
The top three teams from each group will sail through into the final round where they will fight for the top spot which grants lower team permission to play in the country’s elite league.
The draw and the fixtures however promise that the second round will be full of fireworks and sparkling battles with the competition becoming stiffer.
General Secretary for Airborne Rangers FC, Madalo Mkwate who finished as group C leaders in the first round described the draw as fair as no team is small in Chipiku league.
“It is a fair draw,if you want to be the best you have to play along the best teams Villa FC defeated us at home,we drew against Wimbe United FC in Kasungu, Silver and St Gabriel Medicals are equally good teams”,
“We will prepare well for the battle, we finished badly in the first round as we lost two games against Green Rangers FC and Villa FC, those defeats acted as an eye opener hence we have warned our boys against complacency as the journey is yet to start”, Mkwate said.
In his remarks Central Region Football Association General Secretary, Bernard Chiwiriwiri Harawa, hailed presentantives of the twelve teams and journalists for witnessing the draw and described it as conducted in a free and fair manner.
Harawa has however appealed to teams to continue working hard and abide by football rules and regulations for the success of the league.
“We have to deploy monitors in each and every game at this stage as each game will be tough in this group, referees will be encouraged to maintain the sanity which was there in the first round. Before the kick off our committee will meet them to give words of encouragement”,Harawa said.
The following fixtures will open the second round starting from Saturday first October 2022, Airborne Rangers FC will be up against Silver Strikers Reserve FC in a fierce battle at Airborne ground on Saturday.
On Sunday, October 2, there will be a soldiers affair at Support ground as the host welcome Kamuzu Barracks RSV FC.
The second week of the round will have the following fixtures; Ngwanje FC against the 2021 season runners up Extreme FC, Wimbe United FC host Villa FC at Kasungu Stadium, St Gabriel Medicals FC will play against Mbabvi United FC the setting will be St Gabriel Medicals ground.