BLACK Africa came back from a 2-1 deficit at halftime to beat SKW 4-2 in an exciting midweek MTC Premiership encounter at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.
That victory was achieved without their coach Ali Akan who resigned earlier this week, with Dirkie Beukes fielding a credible side as Lolo Goraseb assisted via mobile phone from the stands.The win puts Black Africa on top with a better goal difference, but on par on points with African Stars with both now having 21. But Stars has a game in hand.Stars have their fixture scheduled for the same venue tonight against Civics and will look at taking over the lead after the weekend.SKW opened the scoring through Gustav Isaak early in the first half, before Jerome Louis lobbed over a beauty past SKW goalie Harry January in the 25th minute to level matters. But Edwin Korukuve stunned the BA supporters with a second for his side just at the stroke of halftime, but BA managed to go level again through Roger Katjiteo who came on a second-half substitute.Clarence Foroma and Brian Bantam capitalised on the mistake of January who repeatedly came off his line, to chip over two further goals to send the BA supporters and management home happy on a full-moon Wednesday evening.STARS FAVOURITESTonight, African Stars will go into a crunch match against Civics as outward favourites, after they showed complete dominance in their 2-0 win over Orlando Pirates about two weeks ago.Stars coach Bobby Samaria, who appeared unimpressed by the way BA had overtaken them at the summit on Wednesday, will aim at making a further statement that his team can still maintain their unbeaten run to date.Stars are the only undefeated team in the league at the moment, boasting a terrific record of six wins and three draws from nine matches. This speaks volumes for the defending champions who draw the biggest crowds of them all wherever they are in action.Apart from their impressive record, Stars have improved greatly in their attacking patterns despite the lack of an all-out striker that has haunted them in the previous seasons.But the presence of players such as Quinton Jacobs, Rudi Louw, Jamu Ngatjizeko and Ninja Karongee gives them the edge in experience and class, while the youthful Ikauaterua Tjozongoro and Heinrich Kazerua are proving to be a huge threat for any opposition with each game. Civics, which will be led by Woodie Jacobs in the absence of head coach Helmuth Scharnowski who is currently in Germany, will be hoping for a draw at most, while a win will be a monumental feat.In another interesting fixture, old rivals Tigers meet Blue Waters at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday in a tie that can go either way at 17h00.Blue Waters, under coach Lucky Shipanga and captain Gottlieb Nakuta, have the chance to make up for their 2-all draw against BA by gunning for a win, while Tigers enjoy the home-ground advantage and need to pull out all the stops.Tigers mentor Brian Isaacs, who is possibly the calmest coach in the domestic game, has lost only once this season and it will be crucial to pick up three points at home. See more fixtures in the MTC Premiership on this page. corry@namibian.com.na
