2008-03-31Staff Report 2 By Carlos Kambaekwa WINDHOEK Black Africa continued their good run in knock-out competitions after the Katutura giants claimed the scalps of coastal outfit Eleven Arrows in a tense penalty shootout after a goalless stalemate at the Kuisebmond Stadium in Walvis Bay yesterday. As widely speculated, the Civics/Orlando Pirates clash certainly lived up to the peak of the weekend billing with both teams playing attractive football through a tense 90 minutes of action, but goals were extremely hard to come by as both sets of defence stuck to their guns. Veteran striker Floris Diergaardt once again showed his goal-scoring instincts when the lanky striker scored the decisive goal deep into the second half that gifted the Civilians a well deserved 1-Nil win over the star-studded Buccaneers who finished runners-up to African Stars last year after winning the lucrative competition the previous season. Lower division campaigners Tough Guys found the going extremely tough against Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) in yesterday's opening match. The Germans got their campaign off to a good start by hammering 5 goals past their hapless lower division opponents with no reply after they took a one-goal lead before the break. Ramblers remained on course for a treble after the MTC Namibia Premiership leaders halted Mighty Gunners' sojourn in the country's richest tournament. The MTC Namibia Premiership leading goal scorer Pineas Jacobs returned to action after a layoff through injury to mesmerize Dawid Snewe's men in uniform and crowned his return to competitive football with a brilliant first half strike to put the Tunchel Street boys on course for a well-deserved 2-Nil win against the law enforcers. Veteran striker John Samson added the second goal in the 2nd half to erase any hopes that Snewe and his charges might have been entertaining of a remarkable comeback. On Saturday, coastal strugglers APS Blue Waters became the first casualties of the giant killing prowess of lower division campaigners Hotspursafter the Southern Stream division outfit dispatched the low flying Birds by a solitary goal following a goalless first half. The visitors shocked the home team's supporters with a lone strike deep into the second half - a goal that ignited the blue and white outfit into throwing more bodies into attack in search of an equalizer. Skipper Fisher Kalimba worked his way into Hotspurs' danger zone in the referee's optional time and found himself in an inviting scoring position but the veteran centre back opted to go for power and blasted the ball into the skies when a simple placing could have done the trick. Final score Hotspurs 1 - Blue Waters 0. Though it was eleven men against eleven siblings - Fedics United proved too strong for Eleven Brothers with a comprehensive 6 - 1 thrashing in a one-sided encounter. The struggling Premiership club, currently perched on the basement of the country's elite league ,chalked up a decent rare win in domestic football after having taken a 2 goal cushion going into the break. Tigers scraped through to the quarterfinals with a nail biting 3 -2 victory over a stubborn Black Hawks, but the lower division outfit can take solace from an array of misfortunes and can consider themselves seriously unlucky not to have claimed the scalps of their more fancied opponents after enjoying the lion's share of ball possession for the better part of an otherwise closely contested encounter. Hawks were the more enterprising side and created numerous goal-scoring opportunities which could have propelled them into winning the match comfortably, had lady luck not turned her cheek on them when the situation presented itself. A first half strike by left wingback Getzen Ndjiharine aided by a well-executed spot kick via the educated boot of right winger Masinga Muheua was all that was needed to steer defending champions African Stars to the last eight of the lucrative competition. The Reds easily cruised past Oshakati City in Saturday's only all-Premiership clashes that saw the Samba Boys emerging triumphant with a comfortable 2 - Nil score line. - The full results of the MTC NFA Cup last 16 are as follows Fedics United 6 - 1 Eleven Brothers Tigers 3 - 2 Black Hawks Hotspurs 1 - 0 PS Blue Waters African Stars 2 - 0 Oshakati City SKW 5 - 0 Tough Guys Ramblers 2 - 0 Mighty Gunners Civics 1 - 0 Orlando Pirates Black Africa 0 - 0 Eleven Arrows (Africa win 5 - 3 on pens) 2008-03-31Staff Report 2
