Silver Strikers Ladies and Kukoma Ntopwa Women face-off tomorrow in the 2024 Goshen-FAM National Women’s Championship final at Mpira Stadium in Chiwembe Township, Blantyre.
Lilongwe-based Silver Ladies sailed through yesterday after booting out reigning champions Ascent Academy 4-2 on post-match penalties after a goalless draw in regulation time.
Ntopwa thumped Mzuzu-based Topik Sisters 4-0 in the other last-four fixture.
The Blantyre-based former national champions scored all their goals in the second half through Kondawo Banda’s hat-trick and Olivia Phikani’s strike.
Silver Ladies coach Andrew ‘Aluki’ Chikhosi said they heaved a sigh of relief after the match because Ascent dominated possession in the second half.
“We were on the back foot almost in the entire second half and it was a relief when the game ended goalless and went into penalties,” he said.
Ascent coach Thom Mkolongo said as reigning champions, it was painful to lose through penalties.
“But penalties are unpredictable, they ccan go either way. So, we just have to accept the reality and move on,” he said.
Tomorrow’s final rekindles Silver Ladies, formerly DD Sunshine, and Ntopwa Women’s clash in the 2022 semi-final that saw Ntopwa win 5-3 on post-match penalties after the game ended a one-all in regulation time.
“We experienced a painful exit in the 2022 edition and we will do our best to avoid a repeat of that ordeal as we meet again this Saturday in the final,” said Silver Ladies’ coach Andrew ‘Aluki’ Chikhosi.
“It has always been our dream to win the national title and we are stopping at nothing to turn it into reality.”
On his part, Ntopwa coach Isaac ‘Jomo’ Osman said they are also determined to relive their 2022 experience when they became national champions and qualified for the Cosafa Club Championships.
“We know Silver Ladies are a tough side, but our wish to become national champions again outweighs the challenges we might face along the way. We are ready for battle,” he said.
In this campaign, Silver Ladies started from the three-team playoffs after finishing third in the 2024 Goshen-FAM Central Region Women’s League. They thrashed Mighty Wanderers Queens 5-0 before walloping Topik Sisters 6-0. In the quarter-finals, they beat Civil Service Women 2-0.
As for Ntopwa, they beat FCB Nyasa Bullets Women 2-1 in the quarter-finals, in which they automatically qualified after finishing as Southern Region runners-up.
A third-placed encounter between Ascent Academy and Topik Sisters will warm the stage before the final tomorrow.
National champions will receive K9 million and represent Malawi at the 2025 CAF Women’s Champions League Cosafa Qualifiers later this year.
Runners-up will get K5 million while third-placed and fourth-positioned outfits will take home K3 million and K2 million, respectively.
Ascent Academy were national champions after beating Malawi Defence Force (MDF) Lioness 1-0 in 2023 final.
