* Week 4 headline fixture is between 2nd-placed Kukoma Ntopwa and 4th-placed Mighty Wanderers Queens to be played at Mpira Stadium while leaders, Silver are up against Topik Academy on Saturday at Silver Stadium
By Duncan Mlanjira
Silver Strikers Ladies lead the inaugural National Bank of Malawi (NBM) Women’s Premiership, sharing on 9 points with runners-up Kukoma Ntopwa Women but separated by a narrow goal difference.
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From three games played since its official launch on July 26, the two teams have registered a 100% winning record in which Silver Strikers Ladies scored 8 goals and conceded two while Kukoma Ntopwa recorded 6 goals against one.
On third place are Ascent Soccer, who have lost once and have scored the highest number of goals at nine while conceding two as they share 6 points with 4th-placed Mighty Wanderers Queens.
Week 4 headline fixture is between 2nd-placed Kukoma Ntopwa Women against Mighty Wanderers Queens on Friday, to be played at Mpira Stadium — kicking off @ 10h00 while the leaders, Silver are up against Topik Academy on Saturday at Silver Stadium @ 14h30.
Topik are at the rock bottom having lost all three in which they just managed scoring one goal while conceding 12 and their match should also be a centre of focus to see if they can pull a massive surprise against the emerging giants of Malawi women football.
On Sunday, Civil Service Women — who are 6th with 3 points from three draws — will host Ascent Soccer at Civo Stadium @ 14h30 as FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Women (5th with 4 points from one win) play host to 9th-placed Moyale Sisters (one draw and two losses) at Mpira Stadium @ 14h30.
MK Academy sit on 8th place with one point from a draw ahead of their match at Mzuzu Stadium @ 11h00 against MDF Lionesses — who are 7th with 3 points from three draws.
So daggers are now drawn at the top in this tight race so far in which there are goals galore as Week 3 saw Mighty Wanderers Queens beating Topik Academy 3-1 at Mzuzu Stadium; Ascent Soccer losing 1-2 to visitors Silver Ladies and Moyale Sisters drawing 1-1 against Civil Service United at Mzuzu Stadium.
MK Academy lost 1-2 at home Mzuzu Stadium to Kukoma Ntopwa while FCB Nyasa Big Bullets drew 1-1 with MDF Lionesses at Champion Stadium.
In the lone league opening match on July 26, Kukoma Ntopwa beat FCB Nyasa Big Bullets 2-1 that also recorded the first Player of the Match, Ntopwa’s Olivia Phikani and the following day, Ascent Soccer registered the highest goals when they beat Topi Academy 6-0 at home through the first hat-trick from international Leticia Chinyamula, a brace from another Scorchers international, Fatima Ali and one from Mayamiko Mkandawire.
Olivia Phikani
Mighty Wanderers Queens beat Moyale Sisters 2-0 away at Mzuzu Stadium; MK Academy Women drew 0-0 with Civil Service Women at the same venue while MDF Lionesses lost 1-2 to Silver Ladies at home at Champion Stadium.
In Week 2 at Kamuzu Stadium, Ascent Soccer beat hosts Mighty Wanderers Queens 2-0 through a brace from Mayamiko Mkandawire while Kukoma Ntopwa saw off Topik Academy 3-0 at Mpira Stadium as Civil Service drew 0-0 in a derby played at Civo Stadium.
Nyasa Big Bullets Women then beat MK Academy 3-0 in a game that also registered a brace through Vanessa Ali with the 3rd scored by Mary Chavinda.
Silver Strikers Ladies thumped Moyale Sisters 4-0 at home, Silver Stadium from four individual goals from Yamikani Mhango, Rhoda Chikuse, Ireen Khumalo and Deborah Henry.
MK Academy went on to lose 1-2 to Kukoma Ntopwa at home, Mzuzu Stadium while MDF Lionesses drew 1-1 with FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Women at home, Champion Stadium.
Thus this is going to be a very interesting top tier women’s football league in the race for the inaugural title and a qualification into the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Champions League.
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) released the full 2025/26 fixtures indicating that the first round is set to conclude by end of November 2015 and in between are international matches.
These internationals are FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers (first leg Sep. 19-21 and Sep. 26-28 second leg); Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Women’s Championship (October 2-18) and the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) qualifiers against Angola (October 21-29).
The K450 million National Bank sponsorship for women football has catered for the Premiership at K280 million of which K150 million goes towards Malawi Scorchers’ international needs.
Meanwhile, the Scorchers will play two international friendly matches against Lesotho as part of their preparations for the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAfCON) 2025 qualifiers against Angola in October.
The matches will take place at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre on Friday, August 29 and Sunday, August 31.
This will be the Scorchers’ 7th and 8th friendly match of the year, marking a historic shift under FAM’s transformational agenda, having previously gone years without any friendlies.
FAM Media quotes head coach Lovemore Fazili as hailing FAM for securing the friendlies, saying they will provide a rare and valuable opportunity to continue assessing his squad.
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“It is very important because, from the six friendly matches we have played so far, we have learnt a lot. The remaining issues will be polished up through these games.
“These are not just friendly matches, they are preparation for our WAfCON qualifiers in October, so they are coming at the right time. This has never happened before, and the President is eager to see the Scorchers doing well.
“We really appreciate the support from the Football Association and the leadership of Fleetwood Haiya. If you look at the teams we have played so far, they are always competing at the top level, WAfCON and the World Cup and that is the kind of opposition we need as we prepare for Angola,” he is quoted as saying.
The matches will be played outside the FIFA window and as such foreign-based players will not be available.
So far in 2025, the Scorchers have won one against Zambia and lost five to Zambia, South Africa (twice) Morocco and against Ghana.—Additional content on Scorchers by FAM Media
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