….Eagles 1-1 Airborne…
By Edwin Mbewe
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Young Cops from area 30, Blue Eagles Reserve FC escaped Airborne Rangers scare as they were held to one-all draw to win the MK25 million Chipiku Stores Premier Division League at Nankhaka Stadium on Saturday, 31st January.
Airborne Rangers who were also running away from the relegation zone, came guns blazing as they dominated the play through Rosisky Ibrahim, Yusuf Issa, Chimwemwe Mhone and Captain, Kephas Zimba.
Eagles started pushing for an early goal through Enock Jobo, Blessings Makhula, Madalitso Makhamula and Watson Linguni but their efforts yielded nothing as Airborne Rangers Goalkeeper Adam Hassan made crucial saves with beautiful reflexes till the final whistle of the first half.
Come second half, Blue Eagles Reserve FC head coach Christopher Sibale made several changes to push for the goals, as Blessings Kavulala and Silence Phiri came on for Madalitso Makhamula and Ashley Chimseu in the 55th minute.
Blessings Kavulala who has been an instrumental in the campaign after Pius Saka, Andrew Mapemba, Webster Mzunda were promoted to the senior team, causing havoc in Airborne Rangers defence.
He saw his first attempt parried away for a corner kick by Hassan.
In the 69th minute, Blue Eagles Reserve was awarded a penalty after Blessings Kavulala was brought down in the box.
Innocent Zambira made no mistake than sending the ball far post of goalkeeper Hassan Adam to put the host ahead in the 75th minute.
Rangers started spitting fire for an equalizer but Wisdom Khuni kept saving his side alongside a firm defence composed of Steven Msiska, Kondwani Silva, Ibrahim Kachere.
Christopher Sibale made a final change in the 84th minute as John Hussein replaced Blessings Makhula. In the 88th minute Enock Jobo unleashed a powerful shot from the wing which missed the cross bar.
As the match was thought to end in Eagle’s favour, Airborne Rangers scored in the dying minutes through Yusuf Issa who capitalized on the home side’s poor defending in the box. Soon the match ended and Blue Eagles Reserve FC who played in the Central Region Football Association Chipiku Stores Premier Division League for the first time were confirmed Champions.
In the first round Blue Eagles Reserve defeated Airborne Rangers 3-4 at Mangoes ground in Salima.
However, the point accumulated for Saturday’s clash was pivotal as it helped the Policemen to win the championship.
Blue Eagles Reserve has finished the league with 63 points while runners up Extreme FC have 62 points.
Eagles Reserve Head Coach Christopher Sibale was excited to win the championship in their maiden season in the league.
“I am excited we have won the league, Airborne Rangers played well but we scored first that at least put us into the contention of the match.
“Our performance has been good throughout the season because we have good quality of players”, said Sibale.
Airborne Rangers FC Goalkeeper Adam Hassan was later voted player of the match.
Meanwhile, the CRFA has hailed the teams which were playing in the league this season for maintaining discipline despite some shortfalls.
The body’s treasure Hastings Chilunga stated, “We are Happy the league has been run smoothly without many issues. We will look into how to improve on our shortfalls we encountered this season to have a better 2026 season.
“There was stiff competition amongst the teams, seeing the champion being determined on a final day”.
Blue Eagles Reserve FC will pocket MK8 million for being the champions, while Extreme FC will take home MK3 million, third place Santhe ADMARC will pocket MK1.5 million whereas fourth placed Shire/Wimbe gets MK1 million.
Extreme FC’s attacker Gregory Mwase has finished as the league’s top goal scorer with 27 goals, while Robert Sulitha of Armour Battalion finished second with 16 goals.
Speaking after the match Chipiku Stores Regional administration Officer Brown Mkangama showed satisfaction on how CRFA has been running the league since they started sponsoring the league.
“We are very happy with how the league is being run. Our objectives to unearthing young talents is being attained and we believe we have contributed much to the country’s football development.
“The centre now has a big number of teams playing in the elite league, that’s a symbol of how big the league is”, Mkangama said.
Extreme FC from Mchinji who were relegated from TNM Super league in the 2023 season are promoted to the NBS Bank National Division League for finishing second to Blue Eagles Reserve who are not eligible to play in the Malawi’s second tier league.
Chipiku Stores started sponsoring the league in 1996 and the marriage has existed for over two decades now with the package growing from MK1.5 million to MK25 million.
