FNB Women’s Super League (WSL) champions Ongos Ladies secured a 2-1 win yesterday against Zambia’s Green Buffaloes in the Caf Women’s Champions League qualifiers. 

The match was held in Blantyre, Malawi, where the Southern Africa qualifiers for the 2023/24 league are being contested. 

Beverly Uueziua and Twelikondjela Amukoto scored Ongos’ goals in the 24th and 39th minutes, respectively, while Vanessa Chikupila netted the only goal for Green Buffaloes in the 63rd minute.

Ongos started their campaign on a rough note, losing 1-3 to Zimbabwe’s Herental Queens, followed by a 0-3 defeat to the University of Western Cape (UWC) in their second match. 

Despite their 2-1 victory over the Zambian side, the PstBet Women’s champions were eliminated from the tournament, finishing with three points in Group A.

Speaking after the match, Ongos Ladies’ head coach Agnus Elemu expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance, and remained positive, despite the overall outcome. 

“I am proud of the players, and how they went about things today. This is what we spoke about before the game, and they told me they would go out there and get the game for us and the fans back home. Performance-wise, we did tremendously well, and we managed to get the best out of the ladies today,” he added. 

“Overall, I think it was a learning curve for the team. I wish we had another match to spare, but unfortunately not. But heading forward, we will ensure that the players fight from the onset till the end – not only to perform well in the last match. We will go back, work on ourselves and come back strong,” he assured. 

Meanwhile, Green Buffaloes’ head coach Carol Kanyemba expressed disappointment with her team’s performance, citing a loss of concentration after conceding a goal. 

“It was a bad outing today for the team. It’s not the result we wished for, as we lost concentration during the match, leading us to concede goals. And after we had conceded goals, it was very difficult for them to pick themselves up.”

She added, “I believe we lacked confidence, and did not show up today. The team could only react after giving goals away, which was a bad look for the team. I believe we will have to work on our attitude, and come back strong again,” added the disappointed coach. 

– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na