13 Mar FOREST’S FIRST ABSA CUP GOAL
Forest Rangers on 11th March, 2023, made history by qualifying to the their first ever ABSA CUP semi-final.
Cephas Mulombwa scored his first goal in the Malembe colours and the first for Forest in an Absa Cup.
Going into this match,Forest had suffered three consecutive losses in the MTN Super League and they were coming up against an in-form Buffaloes team that were the favourites to win.
Having played Buffaloes home and away in the league with both games ending in draws, the Malembe technical team had to come up with a different approach to the game if there were to crack this Buffaloes side.
In first half, it was Buffaloes that had chances in front of goal, that could have buried the game. With Chibwe making crucial saves to keep Malembe in the game.
At half time, Bakala and his bench made a triple Substitute, that changed the complexion of the game. Eric Chomba for Quadri Kola, Joe W Banda for Samuel Sikaonga and Clifford Mulenga for Lazarous Chishimba. These changes instantly gave Forest an edge and 18 minutes later Malembe took the lead.
A lone goal that came from an interchange of play between Chishimba and Kola ,who crossed it in for Cephas’ sliding finish was all it took for Forest to book a SEMI-FINAL spot.
Coach Bakala said he was happy his team finally got a win after 3 consecutive losses.
“I am happy the boys finally managed to get a victory after 3 losses. Some players were fatigued after playing so many games which is why we decided to rest them, like Kola, we had to reserve him for the second half because we wanted more energy in the second half and we managed to achieve that.” said Bakala in a post match interview.
The ABSA Cup semi-final will be played on the 8th & 9th of April at the Arthur Davies Stadium in kitwe, where Forest Rangers will face Power Dynamos on Saturday the 8th April, 2023.
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