The curtain comes down on this year’s Goshen Fam  Women’s National Championships as Malawi Defence Force ( MDF) Lionesses and Ascent Academy face-off in the final at Bingu National Stadium this afternoon.

The two sides renew their rivalry as battle for  ultimate prize in this year’s tournament. At stake is K8 million prize money plus a trophy for the champions while the runners-up will pocket K4 million.

This is the match between two best sides in the country at the moment.  Both teams have never won the national championship since it was introduced in 2021.

However, Ascent and Lionesses won the Central Region Women’s Fam championship in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

This is the fifth meeting between the two teams since 2022. Ascent have dominated this fixture having won three out of four matches while Lionesses will be looking for their first win over Ascent.

They first met in 2022 as Ascent beat them 3-0 and 3-2 in both matches. Last year, Ascent won 2-1 in the first round before a 1-1 draw in the second round match.

For Ascent, they will be hoping for second time lucky at this stage after they lost 5-3 on post-match penalties to Champions Kukoma Ntopwa during last year’s final at Mpira Stadium in Blantyre.

On the other hand, Lionesses are appearing in the final for the first time since the team was formed three years ago.

The two teams have been in scintillating form in this year’s tournament and have been scoring goals for fun.  Ascent have scored eight goals and have not conceded in two matches. They dumped Ntopwa out of the tournament after beating them 4-0  in the quarterfinals before a 2-0 victory over Silver Strikers Ladies in the semifinals.

Ascent coach Thom Mkolongo has told his his girls to double their efforts against free scoring Lionesses.

” This is a big game and we need to be our level best to win it. We have done our homework and we believe the players will play according to our game plan,” said Mkolongo.

On their way to the final, Lionesses thrashed FCB Nyasa Big Bullets Women 4-1 in the quarterfinals before beating Civil Service United Women 3-0 the semifinals.

Coach John Kaputa said his players are itching for revenge against Ascent.

“We want to make history this year.  We will do everything possible to win the competition. We are prepared and ready for the showdown,” said Kaputa.

Before the final, there will be a third place play-off between Silver Ladies and Civil Women at the same venue.

A total of 10 teams participated in the competition at national phase.