KAMPAMBA’S DOUBLE LEAVES NGOKENE ‘DEAD’ ROOTED

Two scintillating second half goals from ZESCO United’s attacking midfielder Kelvin Kampamba ensured that Kabwe Warriors departs Ndola empty handed.

Kampamba showed once again why ZESCO United Football Club management decided to aim all its arsenals towards the famous ‘Black Mountain’ of Kitwe in pursuit of the talented midfielders signature.

ZESCO United got into today’s week four fixture with a mission to collect 3 maximum points in front of their home spectators.

It was the first time in almost eight months that fans were granted an opportunity to watch the 2020/2021 FAZ/MTN Super League following FAZ decision to readmit supporters to watch leagues games from the comfort of their match venues.

As earlier predicted, this was going to be a tight affair between the former league champions against a determined Kabwe Warriors side.

ZESCO United head coach Numba Mumamba started with David Molinga upfront supported by Kenyan international striker John Makwata.

Tafadza Rusike, Kelvin Kampamba, John Ching’andu and young Samuel Sikaonga were given the responsibility to marshal the midfield.

At the back, the usual musketeers, Adrian Chama, Clement Mwape, Simon Silwimba and Mwila Phiri were charged with the task to protect Ian Otieno.

In his pre-match comments, Mumamba had declared his intentions to unlock Kabwe Warriors in the first half.

However, the Railwaymen proved hard to break especially at the back where they managed to keep Molinga and Makwata at bay with some good defensive work.

ZESCO United had a lot of ammunition in the middle of the park with Kampamba leading the charge.

The first opportunity of the half came in the 7’ minute when Molinga found himself alone inside the penalty box unfortunately his effort was too weak to trouble an alert Aime Ngokene.

In the 13^’ minute ZESCO United defender Adrian Chama came agonisingly close to putting the hosts ahead with a close range powerful header which Ngokene saved.

Kabwe Warriors came close to taking the lead in the 18’ minute when Ali Sadiki’s effort at close range went over the bar.

In the 29’ minute a neat interchange of passes between the effervescent Kampamba and Makwata finally unlocked the Warriors defense only for the latter’s goal to be overruled for an offside by FIFA Referee Janny Sikazwe.

Kabwe Warriors goalkeeper had proved the difference of the first half with some excellent goalkeeping skills.

The two teams finished the first half goalless with the host having asked much of the questions between the two sides.

ZESCO United started the second half aggressively in search of the first goal of the game. Makwata was the first to miss a glorious opportunity in the 46’ minute of the second half after seeing his weak shot go slightly off target.

Mumamba had seen enough of the partnership between Molinga and Makwata. In the 51’ he decided to substitute the Congolese striker and brought in Kenyan international striker Jesse Were.

The introduction of Were suddenly changed the pace of the game. Kabwe Warriors defenders were outstretched with Kampamba doing most of the damage with his slalom moves.

In the 66’ minute, ZESCO United were awarded a free kick after Kabwe Warriors defenders fouled Sikaonga a few yards outside their own penalty box.

When Kampamba stepped up, there was a sudden sense of belief among the ZESCO United faithfuls that this was perhaps the best moment of the game for the hosts to score.

Kampamba dispatched his free-kick with surgical beauty leaving the formidable Warriors goalkeeper Ngokene rooted to the ground.

This was a typical Kampamba free-kick dispatched with a certain level of oomph and technique which Portuguese winger, Cristiano Ronaldo would have approved in a blink of an eye.

Kampamba’s goal reinvigorated ZESCO United to go for a second. With Warriors sensing the danger of a possible defeat, the Railwaymen threw in the kitchen sink.

With only two minutes of the additional three minutes played, Warriors decided to surge forward in pursuit of an equaliser.

A beautiful counterattack from ZESCO United saw Were storming forward with only two defenders to thwart his charge.

The Kenyan cleverly squared his pass to Kampamba who was charging on the right flank towards the Warriors penalty box.

The Kitwe born attacking midfielder unlocked a powerful shot which left Ngokene helpless to double the lead for ZESCO United.

ZESCO United’s 2-0 victory over Warriors sees the eight-times league champions occupy 5^th position with 7 points while league leaders Green Eagles have 10 points.

The Ndola based giants will travel to Lusaka to face Zanaco in a Wednesday midweek fixture to be played at Sunset Stadium.

Author: Desmond Katongo