. Kapamba

By KALUMIANA KALUMIANA At Arthur Davies Stadium –
Nkana 2 Blades 0
NKANA yesterday beat Konkola Blades in a dominating display to reach their debut Barclays Cup final where they will face nemesis Zesco United in a much anticipated Copperbelt derby final at a venue to be announced on November 22.
Blades held out the pressure for 38 minutes before Nkana scored two goals in a dramatic last seven minutes of the first half.
Nkana initially won a 38th minute penalty after a goal-bound Kelvin Mubanga was tackled from behind by Clement Chileshe.  However, defender Christopher Munthali sent the resultant penalty straight at Blades goalkeeper Collins Chomba.
Two minutes later, Blades were punished by a rampaging Nkana when Chomba spilt Mubanga’s cross that fell at the feet of Claude Bwalya who thumped in the ball from close range to punish his former club.
Nkana’s second came in the 45th minute when Ronald ‘Sate Sate’ Kampamba beat Chileshe before rolling the ball to Simon Bwalya who smashed in the ball.
Bwalya’s goal also saw him set another milestone in the Barclays Cup to remain the eight -year-old tournament’s’ top scorer with eight goals and has now scored two goals more than Luka Lungu.
Meanwhile, man-of-the-match Kampamba did not disappoint and made a strong statement in front of Chipolopolo coach Honour Janza, who watched proceedings from the grandstand, as the striker toiled and tormented Blades despite not scoring.
Kampamba chipped Chomba in the 58th minute but his shot came off the far post and fired inches high a close-range and fired inches high a snap-shot from Donashano Malama in the 75th minute.
Zesco 1 Napsa 0
In the lunch time kick-off played at the same venue and also beamed live on SuperSport, Zesco advanced to their fourth Barclays Cup final after toiling to a 1-0 semi-final win over Napsa Stars.
Midfielder Matthews Nkowani came off the bench in the 62nd minute after replacing Lazarous Kambole to book Zesco’s spot in the final. Zesco enjoyed the lion’s share of chances in the game through Jackson Mwanza but the 2014 leading scorer failed to add to his 16 goal tally thanks to an inspired performance by Napsa goalkeeper Philip Banda.
Banda denied Mwanza twice in the first half while the Zesco striker was also unfortunate not to get on the score sheet after his effort came off the horizontal in the 34th minute.
Napsa too had a glorious chance to win it on the hour mark when Martin Tembo fired wide a cheeky back-heel from the talented Saith Sakala.
Nkowani stole the win after heading in the winner in the 88th minute from Mwape Mwelwa corner to ensure Zesco extended their unbeaten run against Napsa this season to three straight competitive wins.
Winners of this year’s K2 million rich competition will pocket K250, 000 with the runner-up getting K150, 000 while the coach and player-of-the-tournament will go away with K10, 000 and K5, 000 respectively.