WINDHOEK – The much trumpeted MTC Premiership local derby between Katutura giants Black Africa and African Stars ended in a disappointing 1-all stalemate at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek on Friday evening.
Both teams went into this penultimate tie knowing that victory for either team would see them leapfrog log leaders Tigers into the summit of the MTC Premiership log standings after eleven rounds of matches. Black Africa must be ruing the significant number of missed chances they created in the opening half that could have all but ended the match. The defending champions were quick out of the blocks and silenced the large army of Reds supporters when they opened the scoring in the first minute through hard working midfielder Marko van Wyk, who rounded off an excellent build up.
Stars midfielder Aspirilla Wermann recklessly gave possession away and BA took full advantage exchanging some quick one two’s down the right wing involving Awilo Stephanus, Klaas Blom and Bryan Bantam before the latter laid off the decisive killer pass onto the path of the onrushing Van Wyk, who arrived unmarked to slot the ball into the net past exposed Stars shot stopper Max ‘Slimkat’ Mbaeva. The goal seemed to instill more confidence in the BA players, who immediately took complete control of the proceedings, passing the ball with a measure of elegance between themselves with sheer arrogance. The Reds rearguard was badly exposed and left to chase shadows with veteran centre back Hartman Toromba, clearly out of his depths. Stars were dangerously lucky to go into the halftime break with a one goal deficit, but the 15-minute break appeared to be just what the good doctor had ordered for the Diaz House outfit. Staring defeat in the face, Reds mentor Woody Jacobs made a double substitution and unleashed burly striker Gazza Kazeurua and Guti Korukuve, replacing the ineffective Elvis ‘Porridge’ Tjivasera and Riaan Cloete at the resumption and the move immediately paid dividends with the Reds starting to pay frequent visits to their opponents danger zone, while playing with more vigour and confidence in stark contrast to their lukewarm showing in the opening half. Jacobs moved swiftly and made another cleverly calculated move by hauling off Toromba for the more offensive Boetietjie Seibeb, whose arrival changed the entire complexion of the match and it came as no surprise when the Reds drew level midway through the second half. Substitute Kazeurua rose above a static BA defense to head home Freedom Puriza’s well measured free kick. Back on level terms, both teams opened up in search of the elusive winning goal, but both sets of defenders stood firm for a share of the spoils. Bantam made way for striker Muna Katupose, but the move yielded very little positive results while Erastus Mundjanima came on for the injured Junior Ananias.
In the final analyzes, a draw was a fair reflection of a match of two distinct halves with the Namibian champions in complete charge of the opening 45-minutes while Stars wrestled control away in the second half. BA danger man, Awilo Stephanus had a poor game by his own standards and was constantly guilty of breaking down his team’s attacks with misdirected crosses from inviting positions. BA coach Brian Isaacs, sent in prodigal son Quinton ‘Querra’ Jacobs, in place of box-to-box midfielder Marko van Wyk, but the switch almost backfired with the much traveled midfield genius struggling to keep up with the fast pace of the match that had accelerated into another gear by the time of his introduction.
The result saw the defending champions slipping down to 4th place on the log standings, a point adrift of Stars and FNB Orlando Pirates in joint 2nd place and a further two off the pace. Tigers occupies top spot with 21 points closely tailed by Stars and Pirates (20) and BA (19) in that order. In the weekend’s other action, Ali Akan’s Pirates defeated a stubborn PC Blue Boys by a solitary goal in the first half through the boot of Terdius Uiseb in the 2nd of a double header at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday. Civics returned to winning ways with a narrow 2-1 triumph over LHU Blue Waters in the curtain raiser, while coach-less Ramblers were condemned to the basement of the MTC Premiership log standings following a humiliating 3-0 defeat inflicted on them by fellow relegation candidates Rundu Chiefs in a relegation dogfight in Rundu on Saturday. Elsewhere, Eleven Arrows and United Stars canceled each other out in an uninspiring goalless stalemate at the Kuisebmund Stadium in Walvis Bay on Saturday. Tigers and Tura Magic played out a 1-all draw in midweek action.
By Carlos Kambaekwa