Ndirande Stars edged Jenda United 2-1 this Tuesday afternoon at Mpira Stadium to move to 8th and displacing Ntaja United on the NBS Bank National Division League (NDL) 2025 log table.
In the other Week 8 match played at Chitipa Stadium, Chilumba Barracks drew 1-1 with Chintheche United but both haven’t made any gains on the log table as Chilumba are still on 11th with 7 points while Chintheche are 6th with 15 points — sharing with Baka City but separated on goal difference.
Ndirande Stars were first to take the lead in the 36th minute through Khaleed Alie from the penalty after Jenda United’s goalkeeper, Noel Chirwa brought down Madalitso Geoffrey in the box.
But Jenda equalised in the 42nd minute through Nyson Nyirenda’s brilliant goal after being assisted by Chisomo Nyirenda but Ndirande Stars’ Khareed Alli put his side in the lead against in 45+2′ after releasing a powerful shot outside the box to beat Noel Chirwa in goals.
The second half swayed either way but Ndirande’s defence stood firm to condemn Jenda United to stay put at the rock bottom without a point.
At Chitipa Stadium, Chilumba Barracks took the lead in the 29th minute straight from water break through Noah Clement’s spectacular goal outside the box after receiving a beautiful pass from Glyn Msowoya.
With four minutes to the break, Chikondi Banda was set up by Jimmy Kalanje to level the scores and the second half failed to produce a winner.
Thus it ended on Tuesday afternoon after weekend results that saw Namitete Zitha beating FOMO FC 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Mchinji Community Centre to garner 18 points that saw them taking 3rd position.
They share 18 points with 2nd-placed Mitundu Baptist, who beat Ntaja United 1-0 at Nankhaka on Saturday — while, Bangwe All Stars returned from the North with full points after beating Baka City 1-0 to occupy 4th place moving from 6th — pushing Baka to 5th.
Leaders Red Lions lost 1-2 to Mchinji Villa on Saturday at Mchinji Community Centre coming from a goal behind and registering their second win and moving to 10th place of the relegation zone from 11th.
Following the loss by Red Lions, Mitundu Baptist closed gap behind the leaders Red Lions to one point. This was Red Lions’ second loss in 9 games in which they have won six and drew once and have 19 points.
Meanwhile, Balaka Stadium is venue for Week 10 on Saturday, July 9 where Namitete Zitha can emerge as new leaders of the table if they beat hosts Ntaja United — in the event that the leaders, Red Lions draw with second-placed Mitundu Baptist at the same venue the following day.
Namitete have 18 points, tying with Mitundu Baptist and separated by goal difference and if they beat Ntaja United, they would amass 21 points in the event that Red Lions (19pts) draw with Mitundu Baptist.
At this stage, with one Match Week left to wrap up the first round, all the teams at the top will be looking over their shoulders since the race is very tight as the 4th place is occupied by Bangwe All Stars at 16 points; 5th by Baka City on 15 points and 6th by Chintheche United with 15 points.
At the same time, the relegation zone is also a point of focus where four teams would be relegated to Regional Leagues as FOMO FC (at 7th with 12 points) and Ndirande Stars (8th/12pts) are being by Ntaja United (9th/10pts) and Mchinji Villa (10th/9pts).
Chilumba Barracks are 11th with 6 points while Jenda are at the rock bottom without a win or a draw — making the second round to be quite intriguing in the race to clinch the inaugural title for the overall champions and three places promotion into the TNM Super League 2026 for the top three.
The full fixtures for Week 10 are Ntaja v Namitete Stars at Balaka Stadium, Ndirande Stars v Mchinji Villa at Mpira Stadium (Saturday, August 9) and FOMO FC v Baka City at Mulanje Park, Bangwe All Stars v Chilumba Barracks at Mpira Stadium, Jenda United v Chintheche United at Kasungu Stadium, Red Lions v Mitundu Baptist at Balaka Stadium (Sunday, August 10).
