Karonga United booked a spot in the semifinals of the 2024 FDH Bank Cup after a 2-1 victory over Mafco at Chitowe Ground on Saturday.
This means Karonga will face either Baka City or Blue Eagles who face-off in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Blessings Mwalilino was the hero of the day when he scored a brace inside 25 minutes of the game to eliminate last year’s beaten finalists Mafco.
Mwalilino broke the deadlock just two minutes into the match before completing his brace in the 24th minute of the match.
Auspicious Kadzongola pulled a goal back for the Salima based soldiers just before the break from a direct free kick.
The second half produced no goals between the two sides. Karonga coach Oscar Kaunda felt his charges deserved the victory.
” We played classic football for the entire match and credit should go to the players for a showing great character throughout the match,” said Kaunda.
Mafco assistant coach Jimmy Mzunga conceded defeat. “The early goals unsettled our boys. We tried to come back into the game but it was not possible. We accept the result and focus on the remaining cups,” Mzunga said.
In another match on Saturday, Moyale Barracks also progressed to the semifinals after beating Lube Masters 2-1 at Mzuzu Stadium.
Emmanuel Allan scored his eighth goal of the competition in the 27th minute but Rafik Kabwazi pulled Lube Masters level in the 72th minute.
Luke Chima scored the winner for Moyale in the second half. Moyale assistant coach Victor Chingoka admitted that Masters gave them a good run for their money.
“It was a very tough match as Masters came hard on us. Our mission is to be in the final of the competition and win it,”said Chingoka.
Despite the defeat, Masters coach Harold Phiri said his players put up a gallant fight.
“We came to compete against Moyale and the boys really fought. We learnt alot from the cup. For us reaching the quarterfinals was a bonus. No body gave us a chance to go this far,” said Phiri.
Moyale will face the winner between Bullets and Civil Service United in the semifinals. Bullets and Civil will meet on Sunday at Kamuzu Stadium
