It was a sad week-26 fixture in the Eden National Division One league for the Pensioners who surrendered the three points to Nchanga Rangers just in the dying minutes of the match.
A late winner for Rangers was enough to see the Chingola based side secure their fourth position on the log after beating NAPSA Stars by three goals to two (3-2) in a game played at Lusaka’s Woodland stadium.
Nchanga Rangers came from two goals behind to completely rob Napsa Stars’ maximum points and record their sixth loss of the season.
The match started with Napsa Stars dominating the which mounted pressure on their opponents and produced a goal through Simon Nkhata who smartly pressed the ball in the left bottom corner of the net to break the deadlock 32 minutes into the game.
When the fans were still talking about the first goal, Keegan Zulu comfortably extended lead for home team when he headed the ball into the net from a David Odhiambo free kick delivery in the 37th minute of the game.
It was Christian Saile the captain of the side who scored a goal with his head from a cross delivery to pull one back for the visitors in the 41st minute to make it two-one (2-1).
The Robert Tembo tutored side came in the second half strong and forced the Pensioners to play in their own half.
As the second unwrapped, Joshua Banda scored from a counter attack to level matters in the 61st minute of the game.
When the game was heading for a draw, Saile scored in the dying minutes to break the home fans hearts and made it three two (3-2) in favor of Nchanga Rangers.
In a post-match interview, Napsa Stars head coach Perry Mutapa described the loss as disappointing in that he made substitutions that were not effective when his team was leading 2-1.
He however said that his opponent dominated the game in the second half and the changes were made to destabilize them.
Mutapa did not forget to mention that his players needed some redemption from the loss.
“This is football, you cannot always win, but it’s now up to us as a team to lift ourselves.” Mutapa said.
The Pensioner’s still remain stuck at 46 points after this result while Nchanga Rangers’ three points collected earned them a chance to find themselves at the fourth position of the table with 43 points.
Story by Harry Mfula and Gwen Chipasula