From Glory to Despair: The dramatic decline of Hammers, Dedza who battle for survival

For two teams mired in the bottom half of the TNM Super League table, this fixture represents a potential turning point in what has become a desperate fight for survival. it’s a collision between two clubs whose trajectories have nosedived from the promise of their early years to the desperation of survival football.

The statistics paint a sobering picture for both clubs. Mzuzu City Hammers languish in 15th position with just 15 points from 19 matches, their record of four wins, three draws, and twelve losses telling the story of a season that has lurched from crisis to crisis. Meanwhile, visitors Dedza Dynamos occupy 12th place on 21 points, hardly a comfortable position with six wins, three draws, and ten defeats.

The six-point gap between the sides makes this fixture crucial. A win for Mzuzu would narrow the distance and inject much-needed belief into their survival bid. For Dedza, victory would provide valuable breathing room and potentially open up a nine-point cushion over the danger zone.

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Perhaps the most alarming aspect of Mzuzu’s campaign has been their defensive vulnerability. The Hammers have shipped 34 goals in 19 matches—an average of 1.8 per game—while managing just three clean sheets all season. Their attack has been equally impotent, mustering only 15 goals, leaving them with a goal difference of -19.

Dedza’s numbers, while hardly impressive, suggest a more organized outfit. They’ve conceded 24 goals at 1.26 per game while scoring 16, leaving them with a goal difference of -8. In a league where fine margins separate survival from relegation, these differences could prove decisive.

What makes Tuesday’s encounter particularly intriguing is Mzuzu’s shocking home form. The Hammers have managed just one victory in nine home matches this season, drawing three and losing five. They’ve scored only seven goals at home while conceding 15, managing a solitary clean sheet in front of their own supporters.
Remarkably, Mzuzu have actually performed better on their travels, winning three of ten away fixtures despite conceding 19 goals. This paradox will give Dedza confidence that they can exploit the Hammers’ home vulnerabilities, even as they struggle with their own away form.

The form guide makes uncomfortable reading for Hammers faithful. While Mzuzu’s last five results show an inconsistent pattern of L-W-D-W-L, suggesting they can occasionally rise to the occasion, Dedza arrive on the back of consecutive defeats after a promising two-game winning streak.

The Dynamos’ most recent setback came against Mighty Wanderers, where they fell 1-0 at Dedza Stadium approximately a week ago. That loss, following another defeat, has placed increased pressure on Tuesday’s fixture. However, it’s worth noting that between those losses, Dedza strung together back-to-back victories, demonstrating they possess the quality to compete.

Mzuzu coach will be acutely aware that his side’s attacking impotence—averaging just 0.8 goals per game—means they cannot afford to concede first. With only 15 goals all season, the Hammers lack the firepower to mount comebacks, making defensive solidity paramount despite their season-long struggles at the back.

Dedza, marginally better in attack with 16 goals at 0.84 per game, will likely employ a conservative approach, looking to absorb pressure and exploit Mzuzu’s defensive frailties on the counter-attack. Their superior goal difference and recent experience of winning matches gives them a psychological edge.

Beyond the immediate points, this fixture carries enormous psychological weight. For Mzuzu, ending their home curse and closing the gap on teams above them could galvanize a late-season surge. Another home defeat, however, might prove terminal to their survival hopes.

Dedza, meanwhile, need to arrest their losing streak and rediscover the form that brought them consecutive victories. Three points would ease the pressure and allow them to look upward rather than constantly checking over their shoulders.

Wednesday encounter promises little in terms of aesthetic quality but everything in terms of raw, unvarnished drama. Two teams low on confidence, short on goals, and desperately seeking points will produce a tense, cagey affair where the first goal could prove decisive.

Mzuzu’s abysmal home record suggests they’re vulnerable, but desperation can be a powerful motivator. Dedza’s recent losses indicate fragility, but their marginally superior defensive organization and extra points cushion give them a slight edge.

In relegation battles, form often matters less than fight. Whichever team shows greater steel, organization, and—crucially—composure in front of goal will likely emerge with the points. For the losers, the drop zone will loom that much larger.

When the final whistle blows at Mzuzu Stadium this Tuesday afternoon, it will mark another chapter in what has become a tale of two precipitous declines.

The statistics reveal a striking pattern: both clubs are experiencing their worst campaigns since arriving in the TNM Super League, but the journey to rock bottom couldn’t have been more different.

Mzuzu City Hammers burst onto the elite scene in the 2020-21 season with genuine swagger. Nine wins from their first 19 matches, 26 goals scored, just 18 conceded, and victories over established names like Silver Strikers and Blue Eagles suggested they’d arrived ready to compete. That maiden campaign saw them finish with substance, not just survival—a team that belonged.

The decline since then has been methodical and merciless. From nine wins in their debut season to six in 2023, then a brief resurgence to nine wins in 2024, only to plummet catastrophically to just four victories this term. Most alarming is the defensive collapse: from conceding 18 goals in their first 19 matches as rookies to shipping 34 this season—nearly double.

Even more telling is the home fortress that has crumbled into ruins. The Hammers who once made Mzuzu Stadium a difficult venue now boast just one home victory all season. Seven goals scored at home compared to eight away; one home win versus three away victories—the numbers paint a picture of a team that has somehow become strangers in their own backyard.

There has been managerial changes in their pursuit of survival, but the future still looks bleak

Dedza’s Steady Erosion

Dedza Dynamos’ story follows a different arc but arrives at the same grim destination. If Mzuzu’s fall has been dramatic, Dedza’s has been gradual—death by a thousand cuts.

Their 2022 debut season was genuinely impressive. By matchweek 19, they’d already secured nine wins and 32 points, losing only to the league’s heavyweight names: Bullets, Wanderers, Tigers, MAFCO, and TN Stars. They held their own against everyone else, drawing with Silver Strikers and Karonga United while beating mid-table sides with confidence. That goal difference of +4 (25 scored, 21 conceded) suggested a balanced, competitive outfit.

But each subsequent season has seen the foundation crack a little more. Nine wins became six in 2023, then five in 2024, and now just six again in 2025—but crucially, this time they’re at the wrong end of the table. The goals have dried up too: from 25 in their debut to 22, then maintaining that level before dropping to just 16 this season.

Where Dedza once took points off anyone outside the top tier, they now lose to teams they would have beaten in 2022. Their defeat to Mighty Wanderers last week—a team they held to a draw in their debut season—symbolizes how far standards have slipped.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Comparing their inaugural campaigns to their current predicaments reveals the scale of regression:

Mzuzu City Hammers at Game 19:

• 2020-21: 9 wins, 26 goals scored, 18 conceded, 30 points
• 2025: 4 wins, 15 goals scored, 34 conceded, 15 points

That’s a 15-point drop, 11 fewer goals scored, and 16 more conceded—a comprehensive collapse across every metric.

Dedza Dynamos at Game 19:

• 2022: 9 wins, 25 goals scored, 21 conceded, 32 points
• 2025: 6 wins, 16 goals scored, 24 conceded, 21 points

An 11-point deficit, nine fewer goals, and while defensively similar on paper, the context is entirely different—they’re now fighting relegation, not challenging for mid-table respectability.

Season	Goals scored	Goals Conceded	Points
2022	25	21	32
2023	22	24	24
2024	24	21	24
2025	16	24	22

What Went Wrong?

For Mzuzu, last season offered false hope. Their nine wins and 31 points by game 19 in 2024—including a victory over Dedza—suggested they’d rediscovered their mojo. They even beat Mighty Wanderers and scored 21 goals. But that resurgence has evaporated completely, leaving them worse than even their disastrous 2022 campaign when they managed only two wins but at least kept games tight defensively.

The home form collapse is particularly mystifying. A club that won matches at Mzuzu Stadium in their debut season now can’t buy a victory there. Whatever psychological or tactical factors have created this reversal, they’ve proven impossible for the coaching staff to resolve.

Kondwa Ikwanga powered the team to fourth place finish last season but they decided to part ways with him before the season started, the reasons are still kept under wraps.

They employed Chimkwita who resigned just few games into the season citing work commitments and Luckson Nyondo and his co has been at the helm of the team but Nyoni was later suspended. They brought back Elias Chirambo to save the team, whether he can save them or not remains to be seen.

Dedza’s decline appears more structural. After that strong debut, they’ve consistently regressed year-on-year. The 2024 season, despite producing only five wins, at least featured nine draws—suggesting defensive organization kept them in games. This season, that resilience has vanished. They’re conceding at virtually the same rate but can’t find goals or grind out draws.

Wednesday Desperate Showdown

When these two wounded animals meet, the contrast in their falls will be on full display. Mzuzu, having experienced both the heights of debut season success and the depths of their 2022 struggles, know the stakes. They’ve been here before—and barely survived. This season feels even more precarious.

They are heading into this game while sitting 15th with just 15 points from 19 games. They won against Mighty Tigers before losing to Civil Service United.

Only Songwe Border has been worse than Hammers. They have suffered 12 losses, only Songwe have suffered more than them (17).

Dedza arrive having never known true relegation jeopardy until now. Their steady decline has been masked by mid-table finishes, but the buffer has finally disappeared. For a club that once took points off Silver Strikers and held Wanderers twice, the prospect of dropping out of the elite tier represents a stunning fall from grace.

The psychological dimension adds another layer. Mzuzu won last year’s meeting between these sides during their brief renaissance—one of nine victories that hinted at recovery. Can they summon that spirit again, especially at home where they’ve been so impotent? Or will their home hoodoo continue?

Dedza, despite consecutive defeats, can take heart from superior defensive organization across the season and, crucially, those extra six points in the bank. But they’re also on a losing streak, confidence fragile, and facing a desperate opponent with nothing to lose.

They are heading into this fixture at the back of two wins and two losses. More importantly, they are motivated after landing sponsorship deal from Goshen City and a lucrative one. They have already pocketed MK70 Million and should they survive relegation this season, Dedza will get MK600 Million as a package for 2026 season.

The bigger picture

This fixture transcends the 90 minutes. It’s about two clubs confronting the reality that the TNM Super League showed them initial kindness before revealing its true, unforgiving nature.

Mzuzu’s dramatic peaks and troughs—from 30 points to 15 points to 31 points and back to 15—suggest organizational instability. Dedza’s consistent regression from 32 to 24 to 24 to 21 points indicates something more insidious: slow erosion of standards, quality, and belief.

For both clubs, Tuesday represents more than a six-pointer. It’s a moment to prove they still possess the qualities that earned them promotion and initial success. That they haven’t completely forgotten how to win, how to defend, how to cope with pressure.

The tragedy is that both teams have demonstrated they can compete at this level—their early seasons proved it. But football rarely offers second chances to those who squander their opportunities, and the TNM Super League’s relegation zone is littered with clubs who thought they’d established themselves only to discover that survival is a battle that must be won every single season.

When the whistle blows at 14:30 PM on Wednesday, two clubs with proud—if brief—histories of top-flight achievement will go to war. The winner takes a step toward safety and redemption. The loser edges closer to a drop that would represent not just relegation, but the culmination of years of decline and squandered promise.

In the end, this isn’t just about where they are now. It’s about how far they’ve fallen—and whether either can summon the ghosts of their better selves before it’s too late.