Glittering Stars tame Tigers as Spurs upset Blue Waters

AFRICAN Stars moved into top gear in the second half to finish off Tigers 2-0 with two fine goals from Ninja Karongee and Ronald Katjijere in their MTC Premiership clash decided at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Friday.

The result has now given Stars a three-point lead at the top of the table after Orlando Pirates were held to a goalless draw by the visiting Oshakati City on Saturday night.Stars are on 31 points from 14 matches, while Pirates, their closest rival collected a single point to move their tally to 28.Black Africa moved into third spot on 24 points after they too were held to a 2-all draw by United Stars at the SKW Stadium.Blue Waters (fourth on 24) threw their 1-0 lead away as they were hammered 3-1 by Hotspurs at the Khomasdal Stadium also on Saturday.Eleven Arrows used home ground advantage at the Kuisebmond Stadium in Walvis Bay by posting a comprehensive 3-0 win over Civics, giving caretaker coach Congo Hindjou his first win in this round.But all the attention was on the Friday night fixture which saw Tigers being knocked off their pace by a thunderous but classic Karongee strike in the 54th minute. The ball was just too quick for Tigers goalie Fox Nambunduga to lay a hand on.Katjijere managed to stretch the lead for Bobby Samaria’s men with another great shot in the 74th minute that virtually sealed the match.Tigers seemed to have had all the ball possession in the first half and did little with it, only to be surprised by Stars who picked up their game in the second half.JACOBS OUT Stars’ star midfielder Quinton Jacobs is out of the country attending trials in Israel and his presence could have caused more misery to Tigers, who lack capable midfielders who can hold and distribute the ball with confidence.Tigers’ main hit man, Tangeni Shipahu, had very few chances at goal and his real opportunity came in the second half when his header went a few inches past the Stars goal. The Stars defence stood its ground perfectly on the night, but Tigers can blame themselves for wanting to score goals, but with no one in the centre of the park feeding the strikers.The match attracted a huge crowd of close to 4 000 people and some Stars fans on the eastern stand chucked beer cans onto the pitch when decisions went against their team and even when their goals were scored.Stars were earlier slapped with a fine of N$2 000 for such an offence and the unruly behaviour of some of the fans paints a bad image of the club.The chief of security at matches, Laurentius Humphries, said he plans to hold a meeting with all the supporters’ club bosses on the issue of crowd violence. corry@namibian.com.na