AFTER A 60-YEARS WAIT, 19-YEARS OLD FORWARD CHEN HERBERT MBUNWE WINS PWD SOCIAL FC A FIRST TITLE

PWD Social Football Club of Bamenda have ended a 60-year wait to win their first Cameroon Cup title thanks to a well taken set piece from 19-year-old forward Chem Herbert Mbunwe.

The 2021 TotalEnergies CAF Champions preliminary round participants emerged winners of the 2021 domestic cup, following their 1-0 win over multiple CAF Confederation Cup participant Les Astres Football club of Douala on Sunday at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde-Cameroon.

The final that delayed for eight months finally happened on Sunday to mark the end of the season, barely a few weeks after the conclusion of the 2021 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations.

The young PWD squad under the stewardship of coach David Pagou kept the lead handed them by Mbunwe till the end to secure a historic win for the Abakwa Boys who had lost in the 1967 and 1979 finals. The latest result condemns Astres to their fourth defeat in the cup final, as they suffered similar fates in 2007, 2009 and 2010.

PWD of Bamenda, from the North West Region of Cameroon were third time lucky, after falling short in 1967 when they lost 1-0 to Canon of Yaoundé, followed by 1-3 defeat to Dynamo football club of Douala in 1979.

Their Journey to Glory

PWD started their 2021 Cameroon Cup journey against fourth tier side Triomphe FC, a game which they won 3-1, with goals from Nchindo John Bosco, John Paul Nzo Ngong and Frank Albert Balla Atangana.

Coach David Pagou’s side eliminated triple CAF Champions League winners Canon Sportif of Yaoundé in the Round of 32, with Cameroon Under-20 international John Bosco Nchindo, scoring the lone goal of the game. They went ahead to eliminate Renaissance of Ngoumou at the eighth final 2-1, with a brace from Enyegue François.

Mael Dindjeke’s brace secured them a 2-0 win against Avion Academy of Nkam in the quarter-final, before they dispatched six-time winners Union Sportive of Douala 3-1 in the semi-final played on July 31, 2021. Billy Samin opened scoring in that game, while Tchaoua Léger and Enyegue François were also on the scoresheet that day.

With 225 days separating the semi-final to the grand finale, the Abakwa Boys finally made history to become the 25th Cameroonian club to ever win the Cameroon Cup, which was it 61st edition.

Stade Renard of Melong were the last winners of the trophy in 2019, when they defeated AS FAP 3-2 in the final and the competition did not take place in 2020, as the football season was ended abruptly, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Coincidentally, PWD won their first ever silverware in 2020, when they pipped Coton Sport to emerge winners of the Cameroon top-flight championship, signalling their comeback in the CAF Club competition for the first time since 2004.

Unfortunately for the Abakwa Boys, their run in the TotalEnergies 2020-2021 CAF Champions League was short-lived as they were eliminated in the preliminary round by South African giants and eventual finalist Kaizer Chiefs.

Return to the Continent

On 11 August 2021, the Cameroon Football Federation then under the leadership of Seidou Mbombo Njoya, decided that Fovu Club of Baham and Cotonsport of Garoua represents Cameroon in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively, with the league halfway gone and the Cup final not yet played. At that time, both Fovu and Cotonsport were topping their respectively pools in the abridged championship.

The same decision also indicated that the would-be winner of the Cameroon cup between PWD Social Football Club of Bamenda or Les Astres, will represent Cameroon at the CAF Confederation cup for the 2022-2023 season.

This means the Abakwa Boys have already secured their place as Cameroon representative for the next edition of the CAF Confederation Cup.

There’s no time to rest for the boyhood club of 2000 and 2002 TotalEnergies AFCON winner Pius Sielenu N’Diefi, PWD will travel to play Bamboutos FC of Mbouda in the opening game of the 2021-2022 domestic football season on Wednesday March 16, at the Mbouda Municipal Stadium.