Equatorial Guinea failed to score two penalties as the 2015 African Cup of Nations host nation’s fairytale tournament dwindle completely to a disappointing end in a 4-2 penalty loss to DR Congo in the third place playoff on Saturday.

The hosts had fallen 3-0 to Ghana in the second semi-final on Thursday in a match suspended twice due to crowd trouble, which led to the oil-rich West African nation getting fined by the Confederation of African Football.

The sour taste of Thursday was however not evident in the opening period of the third place playoff. In truth, there was little action of note with DR Congo goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba blocking successive efforts from Emilio Nsue and Javier Balboa in the early stages before the half wore off to a goalless conclusion.

The second half saw DR Congo make the brighter start, but poor finishing saw the southern Africans fail to take the lead, with Yannick Bolasie shooying wide from close range and Dieumerci Mbokani miscuing his shot as the match ended goalless and went straight to penalties.

Having scored his two previous spot kicks in previous matches, Balboa shot Equatorial Guinea’s first penalty well over to hand DR Congo the initiative.

Raul Fabiani’s kick was then saved by Kidiaba while DR Congo scored all four of their penalties to claim their best ever finish in the competition at the expense of Equatorial Guinea whose only two appearances at the competition came courtesy of being hosts.