Forest Rangers Football Club head coach Mwenya Chipepo says he is not a ‘coward’ after being shown a red card on Saturday afternoon during a Week 7 MTN Super League match against Lumwana Radiants.

Fole Malembe, who are still unbeaten in the league, defeated the Uranium Boys 2-1 at Dola Hill Stadium in Ndola to record their second victory of the season.

With 11 points, Chipepo’s team is now five points behind log leaders ZESCO United, who lost 2-0 on the road to Red Arrows to end their season without a win.

Chipepo was given a straight red card in the 58th minute for disputing referee Kelvin Musonda’s decision to award his Lumwana a penalty, which they scored to make the score 2-1. His side secured all three points to remain unbeaten this season.

Referee, Musonda was assisted by Chansa Kabwe and Jimmy Phiri as first and second assistants, respectively.

Chipepo on his red card

Reacting to his send-off, Chipepo said he was within his rights to complain about the referee’s officiating.

“I’m not a coward; if there’s a mistake, I must complain,” he said. “Sometimes when you are praising referees and they are not officiating well, then you’re making a mistake because, as a coach, I have the right to complain. Now if I complain, they give me a red card, and they go and write that I am using abusive language; they can do anything, but what I can urge them is that they just have to be handling games fairly, that’s all.”

On the result, Chipepo said the win was a relief for the technical bench and the players considering the number of draws recorded in the last matches.

“We are very happy taking three points; it has been long since we won the first game. At least we have moved from where we were.

“Of late, we haven’t been scoring goals, but since last week at least we are scoring two goals; even today we have scored two goals, and we are creating a lot of chances, so at least the guys have gained confidence.”

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