Bullets Love Airtel Money

In a sun-drenched Bingu National Stadium packed to the rafters, where every breath hung heavy with anticipation, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets once again etched their name into Malawian football history. With unshakable poise and a heart seasoned by glory, the Red Army clinched their third consecutive Airtel Top 8 crown, a fourth in total, dispatching their familiar rivals Silver Strikers in a Sunday showdown that will long echo in the annals of the game.

The match, charged with the electricity of a thousand dreams, saw Maxwell Gasten Phodo break the deadlock in the 50th minute. He found the net with the ease of a poet penning a perfect line, exploiting a defensive miscommunication and flicking the ball neatly into the far right corner from a Peter Banda well taken corner kick. But football, ever the master of drama, had more to offer. Stain Davie, the perennial Silver talisman, answered back 15 minutes later, rising above the red tide to nod home a Zebron Kalima cross. Once again, he delivered with a header just as he had in 2021, equal parts elegance and resolve.

Inevitably, as fate so often demands in this rivalry, the match marched into the crucible of penalties. And just like in 2021, it was Bullets who stood taller in that narrow, nerve-ridden corridor between hope and heartbreak, winning 4-3 in the shootout.

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Silver’s heartbreak was sealed as Chisomo Mpachika and Levison Maganizo faltered, one denied, the other over the bar. Though Chinsisi Maonga, Maxwell Paipi, and Kalima found the back of the net, it was not enough. For Bullets, Hassan Kajoke missed his chance, but Dominic Musonda, Andrew Jovinala, Blessings Mpokera, and Ephraim Kondowe stepped up, each beating George Chikooka. And with every goal, they chiseled their name deeper into silverware.

With Maganizo sending his spot kick astray and Kondowe’s finding the back of the net, emotions split into two unequal worlds. In the stands, the Bankers clutched their heads in silence. Grief settled in like a heavy fog. Disbelief painted their faces. Bitterness lingered as they watched the trophy slip further from their reach.

For those draped in red, it was a wave of pure ecstasy. Their voices rose above the stadium roof. The celebration was wild, unrestrained, and rightly so. They had earned the moment. Every chant, every cheer was a release of triumph that had been building all afternoon.

This was the third final dance between these two sides in the Airtel Top 8 Cup, and the result once again told the same tale. In 2021, in 2024, and now in 2025, Silver have never emerged victorious when facing Bullets at the summit.

For Maganizo, history dealt a cruel symmetry. Just as in 2021, when his miss against Ernest Kakhobwe extinguished Silver’s dreams, so too did his failed kick write a bitter stanza into the same old script.

Yet again, Stain Davie, ever the shining light in a dim fate, scored in both the 2021 and 2025 finals, each with his head, each with quiet brilliance. But like a lone violinist in a storm, his melody was lost beneath the thunder of missed chances.

Two Peters marshaled the touchlines. Peter Mgangira for Silver and Peter Mponda for Bullets. And it was the latter who flew home with wings, a Peter Pan triumphant, lifting the cup not as a player or assistant coach but now as a head coach. His name, already decorated in Malawian football, now glows brighter with each passing season.

Mponda, who spent last season at Bwandilo with the Reserve Bank-sponsored side and lifted the TNM Super League title with them, returned this time not as their architect of glory but as the orchestrator of their undoing. Perhaps it was the very knowledge he acquired during his time with them that he now used, like a sharpened blade, to pierce through their ambitions.

His tactical intelligence revealed itself once again. Despite Silver appearing to control the first half, commanding possession and rhythm, and despite his trusted forward, Babatunde Adepoju, having his penalty denied by Chikooka, Mponda adjusted the sails. He restructured his team with calm authority, and in the second half, with the introduction of Banda and Kondowe turned the tide completely, forcing the Bankers into a rhythm they could barely master.

It was a poetic echo of what happened to him a year ago in the same competition’s final. Then it was Kalisto Pasuwa who stood on the podium, while Mponda watched from below. Now he has returned the favour to Mgangira. A quiet yet firm message that the apprentice cannot best the master on his first attempt. But on the second try, perhaps, should the opportunity arise again.

Money, too, followed the glory. Bullets walked away with K35 million in prize money, Silver with K12 million. But the day’s significance transcended the trophy. A record-breaking K216 million was realized in gate collections, a testament to the unmatched pull of these two giants. Both teams received K45 million each from the takings, pushing Bullets’ total haul to K80 million, and Silver’s to K57 million. It was important to note that the club’s president, Conrad Buckle has given the players K15 million, same as Swift Holdings while the team’s sponsors, First Capital Bank (FCB) has given K500 thousand to each player for winning the title.

And so, Bullets have sent a resounding message of supremacy. In the tournament’s eight seasons since 2017, they have featured in seven, reached six finals, and now hold four titles. Only Blue Eagles in 2018 and Mighty Wanderers in 2022 have stopped their march.

Silver may have lifted the inaugural trophy in 2017 and returned in 2019, but in the final reckoning, no team dares match Bullets’ might. In stats, in silverware, in soul, they lead where others follow.

Total dominance.