By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK
Brave Warriors’ defensive kingpin Michael “Dolam Tower” Pienaar showed once again why he is currently regarded as the most valuable footballer on the domestic scene.
The towering defender turned from goal provider to goal scorer to steer his team Ramblers to a well-deserved 2-0 win over a youthful but gutsy Black Africa outfit in the final of the FNB Cup at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on Saturday.
Both teams huffed and puffed as they tried to carve gaps through each other’s watertight defences with Black Africa taking the match to their more illustrious opponents in the opening minute but the Tunchel Street Boys retaliated and created two good goal-scoring chances in succession.
Ramblers’ ever-present Hans Witbooi found some space on the right and whipped in a dangerous-looking cross after he was put clear by a masterly executed pass from Dicky Akwenye, with the match only two minutes in motion, but the danger was thwarted by Africa’s keeper Arnold Subeb.
Subeb was again called into action in similar fashion when he quickly came off his line to block Lucius Hafeni’s low cross with Pineas Jacobs lurking unmarked at the far post.
As the match wore on, Ramblers started to gain momentum and Congolese import Bernadine Mbilizi hit the side net after the hard working midfield dynamo beat the offside trap.
Shortly afterwards, veteran striker John Samson, a former Black Africa player, showed his former team mates a few familiar routines with a well taken volley on the edge of the penalty box but the ball flew inches over the crossbar with Subeb clutching thin air.
Africa clawed their way back into the contest and defender Merwyn Katire missed a sitter after a goalmouth scramble, which saw the ball falling neatly into his path but he miscued his shot and the ball went harmlessly past the upright with the goal at his mercy.
With 25 minutes gone on the clock, Africa’s Dacosta Angula became the first player to make inroads into referee Arvo Muneti’s crime sheet when the midfielder was booked for a dangerous foul on Jacobs.
Africa almost took the lead when Ramblers’ goal keeper Lucas Hashiti made a hush of Mbilizi’s back pass after the ball bounced awkwardly in front of him, but the agile net minder recovered quickly and gained possession on the goal-line – much to the dismay of the hundreds of Africa supporters, who clearly outnumbered the noisy blue and white clad Ramblers fans.
Former Chief Santos and Brave Warriors’ defender Nelson Geingob floated a dangerous delivery when Africa were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty but his team mates were found napping and the ball was cleared for safety.
Action swung from end to end and Jacobs came tantalizingly close with a sizzling shot but Subeb was equal to the task as he tipped the goal-bound shot over the crossbar for a corner kick.
Hafeni missed a glorious chance of putting Ramblers in the lead when he shot wildly with the net begging after he picked up a loose ball in Africa’s danger zone, while Africa’s danger man Jerome Louis kept Ramblers’ rearguard on the back foot with some darting runs into the penalty box.
From one of his forays, Louis tested Hashiti with a powerful grass cutter but the lanky goalkeeper replied in similar fashion to keep the score sheet intact.
At the other end, Jacobs shot tamely at Subeb following a one-on-one situation with teammates Akwenye and Samson also coming close as the first half wore on.
Africa started the second half like a house on fire and almost took the lead but Duncan Subeb who had a nightmarish outing for his own standards missed the target with the goal at his mercy immediately after the restart.
Africa almost paid dearly for their indiscretion when Samson found himself clear on goal but once again wayward shooting became the trademark of an otherwise entertaining 90 minutes of football.
Subeb was without doubt the busier of the two goalkeepers and the former Chief Santos net minder thwarted everything thrown at him, and it came as no surprise when his heroics between the sticks earned him the Golden Gloves Award at the end of the match.
Veteran midfielder Lolito Garaseb showed sporadic flashes of his old self and during one of his manoeuvres the diminutive playmaker opened the watertight Ramblers’ defence with a telling pass but Subeb shot straight at the waiting hands of Hashiti when it appeared easier to score than to miss.
Urged on by their colourful black and red clad supporters, Africa started to gain the upper hand and played with more purpose as the match wore on but found the defensive pair of Luther Kanalelo and Pienaar in an uncompromising mood.
The towering Pienaar worked his way upfield and showed his wasteful strikers how things are done when the gifted footballer delivered a copybook cross from the left wing which eluded Subeb and the ball landed neatly in the path of the unmarked Jacobs who powered home from close range –
sending the Ramblers crowd into raptures in the 80th minute.
Ramblers’ celebrations were almost short-lived but the usually composed Louis squandered a glorious opportunity to get Africa back on level terms when the talented striker miss-kicked his shot with the net begging after some confusion amongst the Ramblers’ rearguard.
With few minutes left on the clock, Africa played some brilliant football in patches in search of the elusive equalizer – but things turned ugly when Smithley Engelbrecht’s charges conceded a free kick almost 30 metres within striking range and Akwenye stepped up to end any hopes Africa might have had of salvaging a more respectable result.
The tricky former Tigers’ midfielder floated a harmless looking ball into the danger zone from the resultant set piece and Subeb’s butter-fingered catch allowed the ball to fall onto the feet of Pienaar who volleyed into an empty net with his weaker left foot and put the result beyond any doubt.
With Africa looking dead and buried, Samson missed another sitter when he failed to turn Jacobs’ cleverly taken free kick into goal with Africa’s defence all at sea.
Referee Arvo Muneti stamped his authority on the match from the outset and flashed his yellow card on no less than four occasions with the Ramblers pair of Martins and Hafeni joining Africa’s Goraseb in the man in black’s crime sheet.
Final score: Ramblers 2 –
Black Africa 0
Both coaches Tollie van Wyk and Smithley Engelbrecht expressed satisfaction with the manner in which the game was played in their post-match interviews: “We knew it was going to be a tough assignment but we still managed to match them pound for pound in every department only to succumb in the last quarter of the match through a lapse of concentration in our defence,” fumed Engelbrecht.
“When I took over the reins at Black Africa at the beginning of the new season, the team was very dejected and the morale was extremely low after the team had lost a number of their stalwarts, so my primary aim was to build a team that could start challenging for top honours within a year or two and to be quite honest, I’m actually surprised we came this far in this competition considering the relatively inexperienced players at my disposal.”
His counterpart said they realized during the first half which yielded no goals that Africa’s rearguard was more content in applying the offside trip and decided to stay in their own half with the intention of catching them on the counter-attack.
“We gave the boys a thorough tongue-lashing during the break and instructed them to exploit Africa’s lack of pace in their defence because they were living dangerously by defending far away from the goal, so we resolved to adjust our tactics and knock the ball behind their defence and as you could see our first goal resulted from that,” said a seemingly delighted Van Wyk.
Ramblers walked away with N$170 000, while Africa had to be satisfied with a consolation prize of N$70 000.
Both losing semifinalists Sport Klub Windhoek and Eleven Arrows received N$20 000 each for their troubles, while whistle man David Shaanika took honours in the category for the best referee in the tournament.
Ramblers’ lanky defender Luther Kanalelo was deservedly awarded player of the series, while teammate Danny Chilufwya became the recipient of the Golden Boot Award after the former Liverpool and Civics’ goal poacher rattled the net on three occasions in three matches. The Zambian import missed the final through injury.
The player of the series and top goal scorer both received N$2 000 each while the leading whistle man and best shot stopper were the recipients of N$1 000 each.
The Business Community Invitational defeated a Parliament Eleven 4-2 in the curtain-raiser.