BA defeat Pirates

BLACK Africa and Civics showed superb pre-season form when they ousted Orlando Pirates and Tigers respectively in exciting friendly matches at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday.

Civics sent Tigers packing with a 2-1 win after Tigers led 1-0 at halftime, while BA won by a solitary goal in a rather physical match played in front of close to 4 000 spectators at the new stadium. The Orlando Pirates veterans side showed that they were not that rusty as they beat their BA counterparts 3-2 in the opening match of the day, which sought to raise funds for the two Katutura teams.In the main match of the day, Bernardus Rheis of Black Africa was the hero of his side when he lobbed home the only goal of the match after some activity in front of the Pirates goal.The stocky frontman was in the right place to strike for goal after the Pirates defenders found themselves on the back foot just in front of the goalmouth.The match was characterised by flying tackles from players of both teams, and Pirates captain Riaan Cloete was on many occasions on the receiving end, while his team mates, strikers Wilfred Coetzee, Ettiene Beukes and Klaas Blom, were no exception.The match lived up to expectations and surely most fans were satisfied by the exceptional skills displayed by the players, who mostly stuck to the basics.Cloete stood out as he connected sweet passes, especially with Blom in search of either Coetzee or Beukes upfront.Their efforts were cut short by the tough-tackling BA defenders Steven Tjeenao, Hartman Toromba and Sedekia Haukambe.These three men, in the absence of Gerry Keister who is still nursing an ankle injury, proved that strikers will find it tough to find a crack at their goal, which is manned by the able Ephraim Tjihonge.The Pirates defence also proved rock solid later in the match, with Ivan Namaseb, Ettiene Boois and Steven Goaxab cleaning up effectively.BA dangerman Samson John had few chances despite searching tirelessly for a goal, while Beukes hit the post once and had another one going straight into Tjihonge.Match referee Jonas Gaiseb handled the fast-paced match with fantastic ability, while the players hardly back-chatted his decisions, showing maturity and a sense of discipline.The spectators of both teams were vocal and a terrific atmosphere hung over the stadium, which was recently completed at a cost of just over N$63 million.In the first match, Letu Shatimwene opened the scoring for Tigers in the first 20 minutes, with Civics failing to find an equaliser during the entire first half.Heinrich Isaacs, who generally had a fantastic match and who was the captain on the day for his team, chipped the opener for Civics after he received a lovely knock from Danny Chilufya just in front of goal.William Chilufya made it 2-1 for Civics in the second quarter of the second half, a goal which he beautifully placed over Tigers’ substitute goalkeeper Bullet Kanyemba.It was only the second time that premiership teams have played at the new stadium, after it was officially inaugurated by founding President Sam Nujoma last month.The Orlando Pirates veterans side showed that they were not that rusty as they beat their BA counterparts 3-2 in the opening match of the day, which sought to raise funds for the two Katutura teams.In the main match of the day, Bernardus Rheis of Black Africa was the hero of his side when he lobbed home the only goal of the match after some activity in front of the Pirates goal.The stocky frontman was in the right place to strike for goal after the Pirates defenders found themselves on the back foot just in front of the goalmouth.The match was characterised by flying tackles from players of both teams, and Pirates captain Riaan Cloete was on many occasions on the receiving end, while his team mates, strikers Wilfred Coetzee, Ettiene Beukes and Klaas Blom, were no exception.The match lived up to expectations and surely most fans were satisfied by the exceptional skills displayed by the players, who mostly stuck to the basics.Cloete stood out as he connected sweet passes, especially with Blom in search of either Coetzee or Beukes upfront.Their efforts were cut short by the tough-tackling BA defenders Steven Tjeenao, Hartman Toromba and Sedekia Haukambe.These three men, in the absence of Gerry Keister who is still nursing an ankle injury, proved that strikers will find it tough to find a crack at their goal, which is manned by the able Ephraim Tjihonge.The Pirates defence also proved rock solid later in the match, with Ivan Namaseb, Ettiene Boois and Steven Goaxab cleaning up effectively.BA dangerman Samson John had few chances despite searching tirelessly for a goal, while Beukes hit the post once and had another one going straight into Tjihonge.Match referee Jonas Gaiseb handled the fast-paced match with fantastic ability, while the players hardly back-chatted his decisions, showing maturity and a sense of discipline.The spectators of both teams were vocal and a terrific atmosphere hung over the stadium, which was recently completed at a cost of just over N$63 million.In the first match, Letu Shatimwene opened the scoring for Tigers in the first 20 minutes, with Civics failing to find an equaliser during the entire first half.Heinrich Isaacs, who generally had a fantastic match and who was the captain on the day for his team, chipped the opener for Civics after he received a lovely knock from Danny Chilufya just in front of goal.William Chilufya made it 2-1 for Civics in the second quarter of the second half, a goal which he beautifully placed over Tigers’ substitute goalkeeper Bullet Kanyemba.It was only the second time that premiership teams have played at the new stadium, after it was officially inaugurated by founding President Sam Nujoma last month.