WINDHOEK – A quick glance at the performance of some of the so-called minnows campaigning in the MTC Premier League after the opening round reveals an interesting picture about their prospects in the current term.
Civics, under the stewardship of wily mentor Christy Guruseb, escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth on the last day of competition during the 2012/2013 campaign, but the revitalized Civilians have no intentions of going that route again this term. The Eros-based outfit got their league campaign off to a good start when they collected maximum points from their away match against Eleven Arrows last weekend and will be looking forward to extend their good run when they come up against arch rivals Ramblers at the Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek tonight at 20h00.
Ramblers were held to an uninspiring 1-all stalemate by the visiting LHU Blue Waters in their opening match last weekend and new coach Jerry Zimmer, will do well to drum into the ears of his misfiring strikers that only goals win games. The wasteful Pionierspark side dropped two valuable points in a match that was there for the taking, but former Ramblers winger Jorge Da Purificacao believes there is room for improvement when they come up against his former team. “Look we completely outplayed Blue Waters and should have scored an avalanche of goals to win the match comfortably, but maybe that was a wake-up call and a probable blessing in disguise to guard against complacency,” said da Purificacao.
The focus of attention will be on coaches Guruseb and Zimmer at the opposing ends, because they certainly have a lot in common since both mentors had stints with either club and would be out to prove a point or two to their former employers. For the very first time in the history of domestic football, Ramblers finally broke the hoodoo tag against their cross-town rivals when they managed to collect maximum points against Civics in the corresponding fixture followed by another victory in the 2nd leg to wrestle the bragging rights away from the Civilians.
By Carlos Kambaekwa