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Palace, Unam eliminate MTC Maris Cup ‘favourites’

KK Palace and Unam are closer to realising their N$1-million ambition after reaching the MTC Maris Cup quarter-final.

In what was arguably the result of the round of 16 on Saturday, Debmarine Namibia Premiership newcomers Palace stunned log-leaders Khomas Nampol 3-0 at the Dr Hage Geingob Stadium in Windhoek.

Elias Hambongo scored twice, with Elias Kalumbweka also on target as Palace ran rampant and laid down a marker for the rest of the contenders.

Unam, aka the ‘Clever Boys’, edged crowd-pullers Eeshoke Chula Chula 5-4 in a tense penalty shoot-out after a goalless 90 minutes.

Joining them in the last eight are Young African, Blue Waters, Bucks Buccaneers and Ongos. Tigers took on Mighty Gunners and African Stars battled Blue Boys for the remaining two spots in yesterday’s late action.

KK Palace head coach Andreas Phiri believes the dominant display was in keeping with the club’s recent upturn in form.

“They [KK Palace players] can see that, you know, going forward that is good. I think they saw that one going fine, because I told them we have it in our pockets,” Phiri says of his side’s success.

He maintains that they could go all the way and claim honours. Phiri is especially confident of going further in the MTC Maris Cup given that this weekend’s quarter-finals will be staged at Oshakati, which is a stone throw away from Palace’s home.

“The football is dynamic. It can go anywhere,” says Phiri.

“One thing is that after this victory, we are definitely going back home, that is where the quarter-finals will be in the northern side of Namibia.

“It will be home advantage of course.”

Unfortunately, their more popular northern neighbours, Chula Chula, will not be part of the last eight line-up.

After successfully retaining the Dr Hage Geingob Cup at the start of the season, Chula Chula were among the favourites for the debut MTC Maris Cup.

But the final contest of Saturday had to be decided through spot-kicks lottery, following a goalless but competitive 90 minutes in which both Unam and Chula Chula failed to capitalise on chances to win the encounter.

Unam assistant coach Willem ‘Dudes’ Mwedihanga praises his charges for their battling display and holding their nerve in the shootout.

“I feel very happy for the boys. They put in a good shift,” Mwedihanga says.

The ex-Brave Warriors centreback feels they need to improve their level for the next round to stay in contention for the lucrative cup.

“Obviously, we are getting closer to that one point five million,” he says.

“You don’t know who you are going to play against, but obviously, we are going to work on what we have seen today in the game.

“What was our downfall, and what was our strength? We work on that so that the next game, we perfect it.”

Blue Waters also needed penalties to progress to the quarter-finals. They beat Okahandja United 4-3 after a 1-1 stalemate in regulation time.

Sem Ndahangwapo broke the deadlock for Blue Waters before Ricardo Isaaks equalised for Okahandja United and forced a penalty shoot-out.

Penda Mongudhi’s second half strike led Young African to the next stage after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Young Brazilians.

Yesterday, another favourite, given their star quality, Ongos were comfortable 3-0 winners over premiership returnees Cuca Tops.

After Simon Elago opened the scoring in the first-half, Nikodemus Haikali netted a brace to secure progression.

The Buccaneers, recently rebranded from Civics, also scored three without reply in their win over Julinho Athletic.

Kleophas Useb scored twice and Giavanne Engelbrecht got the other goal.  

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