Goshen City Dedza Dynamos have booked a place in the final of the 2025/26 Castel Challenge Cup after they defeated Blue Eagles 4-3 on post-match penalties.
Eagles scored first through Micium Mhone in the 83rd minute while Dedza equalised in the dying minutes, 90+5, through Gift Magola after a defensive lapse by defender, Sankhani Mkandawire.
Penalties
Dedza drew the first blood as Lughano Kaira scored and Maxwell Gustavo of Eagles followed by converting his.
Then tension arose as Dedza’s Christopher Phiri missed his and Eagle’s Tonic Viyuyu converted his.
Then Bright Masebo scored his but Sankhani Mkandawire missed the last one.
Open play
Starting with the first half, Eagles enjoyed much of the ball possession but they were not clinical.
Dedza, however, relied on counter attacks, but they too struggled to find target.
Their best highlight was in the 24th minute when Chifuniro Mpinganjira’s effort went wide after receiving a throughball from Christopher Phiri.
Eagles’ first registered a shot on target in the 28th minute through Viyuyu, but his strike went straight into the palms of Dedza’s goalie, Donnex Mwakasinga.
Almost instantly, Eagles tried their effort through Luke Chima but it was also catched.
Dynamos came knocking again in the 38th minute through Mpinganjira, but his strike went over the bar.
In the second half, Dynamos came guns-blazing as they were attacking wave-after-wave.
They were then awarded a penalty in the 54th minute as Mpinganjira was fouled by Eagle’ Bennett Konyo.
Edward Dakalira took the kick but…
Precius Masamba, Eagles’ keeper, punched it away and Dakalira also failed to convert the bouncing ball which was saved for a corner that was wasted.
(Above: Dakalira misses his penalty)
This was followed by a change of formation from Dedza, a formation that seemed like a 4-5-1 and a 4-3-3 that had a false 9.
However, it was not much effective because they conceded in the 83rd minute.
As the referee added 5 minutes to the clock after 90 minutes, Mhone the goal scorer was stretched out as he picked an injury and was replaced by Chikumbutso Bello.
Dedza kept on attacking until they equalised in the last minute of added time.
Post-match
At the end of the match, Dedza’s Bright Masebo was awarded as the man of the match.
Alex Ngwira, Dedza’s Coach, said the game was difficult because they lost rhythm after conceding and failed to utilise the chances they created.
“People did not give us a chance to reach as far as the finals, but we pushed to make this reality,” he said.
Ngwira then urged his players to remain hopeful in the final.
Blue Eagles coach, Deklerk Msakakuona, said the defeat is a usual occurrence in football.
“We just have to sit down and fix the errors as we approach the new season,” Msakakuona said.
Goshen City’s founder, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri said Dedza Dynamos were motivated to win the game because he had earlier given them K16 million for the players and the technical panel.
Semi-final action will return at Kamuzu Stadium on Sunday as FCB Nyasa Big Bullets will lock horns with Mzuzu City Hammers.
