Otjomisaona win Dr Mbuende tourney
Zebaldt Ngaruka
The Otjomisaona football team won the first edition of Dr Kaire Mbuende Winter Cup competition held at farm Summerdown in Omaheke region’s Okorukambe constituency on Sunday.
About 20 football teams participated in the knockout competition, whose sponsored cash prize was N$20 000 along with a trophy and medals.
Competition organiser Immanuel Mengo told New Era Sport that the purpose of the tournament is to keep Okorukambe youth busy and promote sport in the region as well.
“Our constituency comprised mainly of farms, many young people here are unemployed and spend most of their time doing unwanted activities. Thus, the competition of this magnitude will keep them busy and expose their talent,” Mengo said.
He added that the teams were divided into two groups due to the high turnout of participants, and the games were played at the two Summerdown sports grounds.
The first match in group A saw Okahandja based Jumbo football team defeat Okorukurure from Otjinene by 2-0 scoreline.
This was followed by the encounter between Otjomisaona and Skoonheid from Okorukambe.
The former emerged victorious by a solitary goal to nil.
In group B, Okorukambe’s Du Plessis locked horns against Combo from Otjinene in the first quarterfinal.
Du Plessis won the match 5-4 on penalties after one-all stalemate in the regulation time.
The second match was between Summerdown’s Zamalek football team against Fine Young Stars from Otjinene constituency and the latter crushed the home team by 2-0 scoreline.
In the first semi-final, Otjomisaona defeated Jumbo 4-2 on penalties following a one all draw in 90 minutes and booked its place in the final.
Fine Young Stars overcame Du Plessis 7-6 after one all stalemate and joined Otjomisaona in the final battle.
Otjomisaona were then crowned champions after beating their Otjinene counterpart Fine Young Stars 5-4 on penalties following a one all draw in the regulation time of a highly contested final match of the competition.
Otjomisaona pocketed N$10 000, a trophy plus 18 gold medals while Fine Young Stars took home N$5 000 and 18 silver medals.
An amount of N$ 2 500 was given to Jumbo and Du Plessis each for coming third in the tournament.
In an interview with New Era Sport after the match, winning coach Collin Katjikuru, said his team prepared well for the tournament, and players followed his instructions accordingly.
“It was a tough battle, we played against the tough opponent from the same constituency. I was hungry to beat Fine Young Stars as they are champions in many competitions,” Katjikuru said.
The coach added that his players showed hunger for the win from the first game, and he gave them freedom to display their skills.
“It was a well-organised tournament, it helped us to keep our village youth busy and at the same time get exposure. This is my second cup victory in Summerdown, after we previously defeated Witvlei Cosmos years back,” he said.