Kasongo’s brace powers Chitipa into Castel R16

Chitipa United have become the 12th team to reach the round of 16 of the Castel Challenge Cup after thumping Bereu Giants 3-0 at Chitipa Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Mally Kasongo netted twice, with goals in each half, while Godfrey Kwiyokwa scored the other as the Basongo produced a dominant display to sail through to the next round.

The hosts maintained the tournament’s trend as all lower-league teams and non-league sides have failed to beat top-flight sides, extending the run to eight fixtures in the tournament.

MORE NEWS FROM WAMPIRA

The visitors made a promising start as Happy Andrew was denied by the crossbar in the fourth minute, but it was Chitipa United who scored first in the 16th minute through Godfrey Kwiyokwa. Mally Kasongo doubled the lead in the 38th minute.

A replica of the first half’s start was seen in the early minutes of the second period as Bereu Giants squandered two clear chances, but Kasongo grabbed his second of the game in the 49th minute. Asumani Julius’ effort then crashed off the post as Chitipa searched for more goals.

The visitors improved greatly as they tried to get back into the game. Yusufu Kadaya, Benedicto Mazonda and Chikaiko Davie replaced Augustine Mkanda, Malizani Phiri and Blessings Lemani for the visitors, while Peter Bally, Matthews Zaulombo, Trouble Kajani and Steve Saka came on for Kwiyokwa, Lumbani Nyondo, Zenga Manda and Julius for the hosts, but the changes made no difference to the scoreline.

Head coach for Chitipa United, Kondwa Ikwanga, was not impressed with his players’ performance, saying they underrated their opponents.

“The boys were complacent as they thought they had already beaten the opposition, so it is something we need to improve psychologically because we could have scored even 10 goals but we complicated things ourselves,” said Ikwanga.

Meanwhile, Bereu Giants head coach Steve Manayi said their goalkeeping was not good in the first half but improved in the second after a pep-talk.

“We have learnt many things. We are just a team from the village but we’ve played on equal terms with better teams, so we will go back and play in different tournaments and return next year,” said Manayi.

The Basongo have joined Mighty Wanderers, Mighty Tigers, Karonga United, Kamuzu Barracks, Civil Service United, Blue Eagles, Ekhaya FC, Mzuzu City Hammers, Airborne Rangers, Wimbe Shire FC and Ndirande Stars, who all secured wins in their round of 32 matches.

Chitipa United will now face Kamuzu Barracks in an all-elite-league tie in the round of 16 of the tournament.