By Rabson Kashamba
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| Photo by Dominic Mphembela | |
The games began much earlier or sooner than most people would have imagined, which is unusual for most games or events that had been organised before. There weren't many spectators at the games, and most of them started late, unlike football, which began with a D2 versus D3 game as planned. There wasn't much fun at this stage, but there was hope on everyone's face that they were going to have a great day.
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Some of those who had come early
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Some of the Mighty finales in attendance
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SD Wis was also in attendance
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Some of the early birds; Ana oti basi
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At the completion of the first football match, many people began to arrive in large numbers, and two incidents occurred that fuelled the joy. The first thing that happened was that the D3 players began to attack with hunger, and they displayed a mouth-watering play that allowed them to score most of their goals in a matter of minutes, humiliating the D2 team with a six-nil victory and qualifying for the finals. Another factor was the introduction of a sound system, which was simply the icing on the cake.
The following game which started near the end of the D3 vs D2 game was the netball game which was a final itself, since the other cohorts had no representatives. The D3 team got the game rolling right away, attacking and scoring goals, which forecast a victory going their way. It was actually how it went as they had a thumping victory over the finales to win the netball trophy. It was no doubt they were joyous as they sung after the final whistle to ridicule their counterparts "Mwanayo mwanayo, ayeee. Mwanayo mwanayo, mwana ndi mwana."
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D3 side player with the ball during the game
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Some of the spectators of the netball match
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D3 side girls posing after victory
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There was high expectations from the D4 side in the following football match in which they were taking on the D1 side. They found themselves trailing the D1 side early in the game from a free-kick. They managed to come up with an equalizer in the second half, but it only turned out to be a consolation goal because the D1 side scored the winner later on to meet the D3 side in the finals.
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D4 players posing before the game
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Sapota Mapeto Crucial had the privilege to hold one of the trophies
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Some of the spectators of the football matches
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| Some of the spectators of the football matches |
When it rains, it pours, and the finales (D4) were about to find out what that entailed after losing in both football and netball. The finales suffered another defeat in the chess category, in which each cohort had two representatives and each had to play with everyone from the other cohorts, and points were awarded, as they lost by a single point to the D3 side.
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Chess players testing each other before the Matches
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A bird's eye view of the chess matches in progress
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After all of the humiliation, there was something that provided the finales a glimpse of optimism in the volleyball category, as they advanced to the finals after defeating the D1 side to face the D3 side, which had already defeated the D2 side. They found a way to win the only trophy that had been won entirely by the finales.
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D3 battling D2
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During the D4 vs D1 Match
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The Endgame; The Finals
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The Coordinator posing with the D3 side
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| The Coordinator posing with the D1 side |
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The trophies waiting for the lucky hands
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After the majority of the games had concluded, it was time to witness the final event of the day, which was the football finals between the D3 and D1 sides, and the coordinator herself was present to grace the match and afterwards award the medals to the champions from all categories. The game was a goalless draw at full time, courtesy to the D1 side goalkeeper's incredible saves, and it would be decided on penalties. It was a tough one since they needed a second round after taking all the penalties, and the D1 side goalkeeper made a save, and that was it; a victory to the D1s.
The other categories that were also played—some even a day earlier—were:
Pool which was won by D1
Fifa which was won by a D2 boy Raymond
Basketball won by Team Edo
