By Chikondi Magalasi

There was an exchange of fists between supporters of Goshen City Dedza Dynamos and MAFCO players, in collaboration with their officials, as the two teams were about to return to the field of play at Dedza Stadium for the second half of the TNM Super League match on Sunday afternoon.

It all started at halftime when a man wearing all black approached the right door, which is in the side of the tunnel close to its entrance, destroyed the lock that was used to secure the door with a stone, and forcefully opened the door for Dynamos’ players who were on the reserve to enter the field of play to do the halftime warm-up.

With a few minutes before the second-half kickoff, Dynamos players who were in the starting lineup were also seen taking the same path on the right side under the VIP stands, using the right-side door rather than the usual stadium tunnel.

A few seconds later, after the Dynamos players entered the field of play, MAFCO players and officials also wanted to use the same route that the hosts used, and this did not go well with allegedly supporters of the home team, who teamed up and blocked the passage for the visitors, insisting that they should use the standard path in the tunnel. This caused a commotion as the visitors insisted on using the same route as the home side.

During this time, some allegedly supporters of Dedza Dynamos were overheard saying, “Wathira mkodzo mu tunnel mukadutse momwemo pano simudutsa (You have poured urine in the tunnel; go and use that path; you won’t pass here).”

When MAFCO officials and players reached the door they intended to use to enter the field of play, they also met resistance when it was blocked by some people, causing chaos as it was clear the two sides were exchanging blows. After a few minutes, the visitors forcefully entered the field of play, overpowering those manning the door (Click the attached link to watch the video).

Earlier, the Juju beliefs drama started soon after the halftime whistle when two players, one for Dedza and another for MAFCO, refused to exit the field of play as each one wanted to be the last to leave; it took the intervention of the reserve referee, Ibrahim Mussa Phiri.

Now to the match. George Mboma, who was selected as the player of the game, was on target for the hosts with his beautiful header just 11 minutes into the match, beating MAFCO’s goalie Christopher Mikuwa, who had left his position to clear an aerial ball that he missed; fortunately, it landed on Mboma’s head, and he made no hesitation in getting the opener of the match.

The soldiers tried several attacks, but unfortunately, they yielded nothing until the halftime whistle. In the second half, in the 55th minute, the hosts doubled the lead with a powerful long-range shot from Chifuniro Mpinganjira, before Chifundo Molosoni pulled one back after capitalising on the hosts’ poor coordination.

In a post-match interview, MAFCO’s head coach, Stereo Gondwe, complained that there were irregularities, as buses for both teams did not enter the stadium, forcing them to use different paths to reach the dressing rooms. However, he accepted the defeat, saying that all is not over.

“It was a good match, as you have watched; it is always hard to play away, but in modern football, buses for the teams are supposed to enter the stadium for both teams to use the same path to the dressing rooms. However, this wasn’t the case; our colleagues and I used different paths. Anyway, we have lost; we will look ahead and see what the future will bring in the remaining matches,” he said.

On his part, Dedza Dynamos’ head coach, Alex Ngwira, praised his boys for their performance; however, he lamented that it was a difficult match.

“It was a difficult match, but let me praise my boys for the gallant fight and good performance which has earned us the win,” he said.

Following this result, Dedza Dynamos is 11th in the standings with 30 points, while MAFCO is 13th with 28 points, just two points above Mighty Tigers. Both Dedza and MAFCO have three matches each remaining to wrap up their league matches, while Tigers have four games left.