Pirates aim for league title

ORLANDO Pirates coach Brian Isaacs says winning the Namibia Premier League (NPL) will be their target this season after his team got a morale boost by capturing the Humphries Security Cup by ousting Blue Waters 2-1 in a scintillating final at the Independence Stadium on Saturday.

Pirates needed the victory after a dry spell of over two years since winning the NFA Cup at Rundu against Tigers in 2002. Pirates went through to the final after beating Ramblers 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw at full-time on Friday evening, while Blue Waters passed Eleven Arrows 2-1 in their match later on that night.Isaacs told The Namibian Sport yesterday that the players do not need any motivation to gun for the league title now.”Winning the Humphries Cup is good motivation enough.We have a balanced team and winning the league is a big challenge for us,” he said.Pirates took home N$50 000 and gold medals, while Blue Waters had to settle for N$25 000 and silver medals for their efforts.Isaacs said he was happy with the way the team played and was assured of fielding a competitive team in each league game as all positions have excellent cover players.”The players have to compete for positions as all are good enough to make the first team.This means that we are not going to participate in the league, but we want to compete and win it,” he said.Pirates defender Ivan Gowaseb produced what can be called the goal of the tournament when he sent his team into the lead with a screamer of a shot, from as far as 30 metres in the 35th minute.Tommy Horaeb hit the post for Pirates in the 63rd minute and Pedro also hit the post two minutes later for Blue Waters, which clearly showed how desperate both teams were.Pirates increased their lead after being awarded a penalty by referee Arvo Mufeti, as Wycliffe Kambonde fouled Horaeb in the box.Neville Nanub sent Blue Waters goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha the wrong way to lead 2-0, but the Windhoek side led 1-0 at halftime.Blue Waters stocky striker Meraai Swartbooi was fouled a minute later in the box by Vic Blaauw and this time the striker made a fumble of it by shooting straight into goalkeeper Helmut Maletsky.Blue Waters defender Fisher Kalimba was at the right spot and wasted no time by following up the rebound from Maletsky to put the ball into the net with a diving header.The last minutes of the game saw Blue Waters fighting a losing battle only to hear the final whistle from Mufeti, which was a relief for Pirates players and their fans, who celebrated wildly.Pedro of Blue Waters won the Goalscorer of the Series award, while Pirates captain Riaan Cloete won the Player of the Series award.The NPL is expected to start this weekend, but the league authorities have not yet announced the fixtures for the 2005/2006 season.* Meanwhile, an NPL General Assembly that was scheduled for Soccer House on Saturday could not take place because there was no quorum.All NPL teams were supposed to send representatives.Pirates went through to the final after beating Ramblers 5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw at full-time on Friday evening, while Blue Waters passed Eleven Arrows 2-1 in their match later on that night.Isaacs told The Namibian Sport yesterday that the players do not need any motivation to gun for the league title now.”Winning the Humphries Cup is good motivation enough.We have a balanced team and winning the league is a big challenge for us,” he said.Pirates took home N$50 000 and gold medals, while Blue Waters had to settle for N$25 000 and silver medals for their efforts.Isaacs said he was happy with the way the team played and was assured of fielding a competitive team in each league game as all positions have excellent cover players.”The players have to compete for positions as all are good enough to make the first team.This means that we are not going to participate in the league, but we want to compete and win it,” he said.Pirates defender Ivan Gowaseb produced what can be called the goal of the tournament when he sent his team into the lead with a screamer of a shot, from as far as 30 metres in the 35th minute.Tommy Horaeb hit the post for Pirates in the 63rd minute and Pedro also hit the post two minutes later for Blue Waters, which clearly showed how desperate both teams were.Pirates increased their lead after being awarded a penalty by referee Arvo Mufeti, as Wycliffe Kambonde fouled Horaeb in the box.Neville Nanub sent Blue Waters goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha the wrong way to lead 2-0, but the Windhoek side led 1-0 at halftime.Blue Waters stocky striker Meraai Swartbooi was fouled a minute later in the box by Vic Blaauw and this time the striker made a fumble of it by shooting straight into goalkeeper Helmut Maletsky.Blue Waters defender Fisher Kalimba was at the right spot and wasted no time by following up the rebound from Maletsky to put the ball into the net with a diving header.The last minutes of the game saw Blue Waters fighting a losing battle only to hear the final whistle from Mufeti, which was a relief for Pirates players and their fans, who celebrated wildly.Pedro of Blue Waters won the Goalscorer of the Series award, while Pirates captain Riaan Cloete won the Player of the Series award.The NPL is expected to start this weekend, but the league authorities have not yet announced the fixtures for the 2005/2006 season.* Meanwhile, an NPL General Assembly that was scheduled for Soccer House on Saturday could not take place because there was no quorum.All NPL teams were supposed to send representatives.