Mzuzu City Hammers date Mighty Wanderers in final of Castel Challenge Cup

* After beating defending champions Nyasa Big Bullets 4-1 in post-match penalties in the semifinal that ended 0-0 after 90 minutes this afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium

* The Northern Region side, who finished 4th in the TNM Super League 2024 season, follow Wanderers’ intent to grab the title after the Nomads ended 2013 season trophy-less

By Duncan Mlanjira

Mzuzu City Hammers have beaten Castel Challenge Cup defending champions 4-1 after post-match penalties of the semifinal clash played this afternoon at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.

The Northern Region side, who finished 4th in the TNM Super League 2024 season, now date Mighty Wanderers in the final with both intent to grab the title since the Nomads ended the 2013 season trophy-less.

This was a season that was dominated by Nyasa Big Bullets, who swept all silverware of FDH Bank Cup, Airtel Top 8, Castel Challenge Cup and the TNM Super League, include the season opener, the NBS Bank FAM Charity Shield.

But ahead of the clash against Mzuzu City Hammers, the Bullets coach, Kalisto Pasuwa expressed his worry that his players were fatigued as they were not having enough time to recover due to fixture congestion.

They had to travel long distance to and from Dedza where they played against MMF Marines on Saturday in the quarterfinal which they won 3-1.

Pasuwa told Nyasa Big Bullets Media that they had traveling long distances within the shortest period of time as in 14 days, they had fulfilled five fixtures spread across the North, South and the Central regions — covering 2,000kms by road.

They defeated Hilltop 1-0 in Mzuzu Wednesday last week, four days after facing Kamuzu Barracks in the TNM Super League in Blantyre.

They were back in Blantyre to host Mzuzu City Hammers in the semifinals and if they had sailed through, they were expected to travel to Lilongwe for the final match against Mighty Wanderers at Bingu National Stadium.

Pasuwa told Nyasa Big Bullets Media that fixture congestion was one thing which was mostly affecting them, saying: “We have been travelling a lot and playing under conditions which are not OK.

He indicated that in the match against MMF Marines was the second game to play with heavy rains and bad surfaces that were “not suitable for a team to play football”, emphasising that it could come back to haunt the players’ health.

Pasuwa and his charges were eyeing a third title this season having defended both the FDH Bank Cup and the Airtel Top 8.

Mighty Wanderers ended Chipiku Stores Premier Division side, Panthers FC’s giant killing fairytale run in the Castel Challenge Cup 2024 winning 3-0.

Panthers are the revelation of the Castel Challenge Cup 2024 after they eliminated four TNM Super league side on their road to the semifinals — beating MAFCO, Silver Stadium, Chitipa United and Civil Service United — all after post-match penalties.