Nchanga Rangers punished Nkana ‘red devils’ on  Good Friday to collect a 1-0 home win at Nchanga Stadium in Chingola.

Nkana’s defeat came in the wake of influential striker Walter Bwalya’s three-match ban that began with the Nchanga match.

Also missing was striker Fred Tshimenga who is injured.

Furthermore, the defeat left Nkana with just one point from their opening two FAZ Super Division games to mark a poor start of the record 12-time champions.

It also left new coach Zeddy Saileti still hunting for his first league win in charge.

However, Nkana made a promising start in the match and even found the back of the net in the 28th minute through Simon Bwalya but it was disallowed for offside, before the two sides went 0-0 into the break.

Nchanga then shocked Nkana against the run of play in the 59th minute when an unmarked Kasonde Bwalya fired a cracker from inside the area.

Nchanga could have made it 2-0 in the 71st minute but Isaac Shamujompa’s free kick was saved by Kelvin Malunga.

Meanwhile, the victory was a huge relief for Nchanga who came into the game after losing 3-0 away to early leaders Napsa Stars in their Week 1 game in Lusaka on April 8.