Premiership title race intensifies

PLAY in the domestic premiership will go into top gear within the next few weeks as the race for the title remains wide open, while the strugglers at the base of the table will be happy to pick up any available points at this stage.

There will only be five matches remaining for most teams after this weekend’s matches before the league ends in May. But there is still plenty of action and unfinished business among the teams, irrespective of what their positions are on the log.The race for the title will be among the three frontrunners Civics, Ramblers and Blue Waters, who have all reached the 30-point mark.At the bottom, Eleven Arrows, Touch & Go, Chief Santos and SKW have to quickly work themselves out of the relegation zone, as they have not even gathered more than 15 points.All four bottom teams have lost ten matches each from a total of 15.For this weekend, there are tough encounters for most of the teams, with the current defending champions Civics facing Black Africa tonight, before they take on a rejuvenated African Stars side on Sunday.Despite being in seventh position on the log, Black Africa, who still have a game in hand, will be a tough customer for the ‘Civilians’, as they would aim to dent Civics’ chances of taking the title for the second time.African Stars are in a favourable fourth spot and will also go out for the kill against Civics, as they aspire to finish in the top five bracket, if not in the top three.The winners of the league will receive half a million, while the runners-up will go home with N$225 000.The third-placed team will get N$130 000, while the team finishing fourth will pocket N$90 000.A total of N$45 000 goes to the team in position number five, while in the sixth spot, the prize money is N$30 000.Second-placed Ramblers also have an epic task this weekend, when they first go up against a stubborn Orlando Pirates outfit tonight, before they entertain SKW on Sunday.Pirates are in mid-table and considering the good spell by Ramblers lately, the ‘Buccaneers’ would want to prove that they are no pushovers and possess the same qualities as their Pionierspark rivals.SKW are fighting relegation as they are currently holding the table on nine points and the weekend matches will be a do-or-die affair against Pirates and Tigers.Ramblers are four points behind Civics and their chances are good to catch up with Civics, which is slowly becoming just another ordinary team in the league.Blue Waters, sitting in third spot with 30 points, will face Oshakati City away on Saturday, before taking on Chief Santos at Tsumeb on Sunday in matches that can go either way.Santos rose to the occasion in their last match against Civics (2-2 draw) and have a good chance to lift themselves out of the relegation zone if they can at least pull a draw against the Blue Waters, but they first have to beat Eleven Arrows on Saturday.Santos are second from the bottom in the league of 12 sides and will bank on Touch & Go or Eleven Arrows faltering in their remaining matches.Tigers, who are in fifth spot with the same number of points as Stars and Pirates, have an advantage over SKW and they ought to collect maximum points in that match on Saturday before seeing how they can find their way around Pirates on Sunday.BA and Tigers have matches in hand after their match was abandoned due to a mix-up with balls which were apparently not visible at night.No date has been set for that match as yet.But there is still plenty of action and unfinished business among the teams, irrespective of what their positions are on the log.The race for the title will be among the three frontrunners Civics, Ramblers and Blue Waters, who have all reached the 30-point mark.At the bottom, Eleven Arrows, Touch & Go, Chief Santos and SKW have to quickly work themselves out of the relegation zone, as they have not even gathered more than 15 points.All four bottom teams have lost ten matches each from a total of 15.For this weekend, there are tough encounters for most of the teams, with the current defending champions Civics facing Black Africa tonight, before they take on a rejuvenated African Stars side on Sunday.Despite being in seventh position on the log, Black Africa, who still have a game in hand, will be a tough customer for the ‘Civilians’, as they would aim to dent Civics’ chances of taking the title for the second time.African Stars are in a favourable fourth spot and will also go out for the kill against Civics, as they aspire to finish in the top five bracket, if not in the top three.The winners of the league will receive half a million, while the runners-up will go home with N$225 000.The third-placed team will get N$130 000, while the team finishing fourth will pocket N$90 000.A total of N$45 000 goes to the team in position number five, while in the sixth spot, the prize money is N$30 000.Second-placed Ramblers also have an epic task this weekend, when they first go up against a stubborn Orlando Pirates outfit tonight, before they entertain SKW on Sunday.Pirates are in mid-table and considering the good spell by Ramblers lately, the ‘Buccaneers’ would want to prove that they are no pushovers and possess the same qualities as their Pionierspark rivals.SKW are fighting relegation as they are currently holding the table on nine points and the weekend matches will be a do-or-die affair against Pirates and Tigers.Ramblers are four points behind Civics and their chances are good to catch up with Civics, which is slowly becoming just another ordinary team in the league.Blue Waters, sitting in third spot with 30 points, will face Oshakati City away on Saturday, before taking on Chief Santos at Tsumeb on Sunday in matches that can go either way.Santos rose to the occasion in their last match against Civics (2-2 draw) and have a good chance to lift themselves out of the relegation zone if they can at least pull a draw against the Blue Waters, but they first have to beat Eleven Arrows on Saturday.Santos are second from the bottom in the league of 12 sides and will bank on Touch & Go or Eleven Arrows faltering in their remaining matches.Tigers, who are in fifth spot with the same number of points as Stars and Pirates, have an advantage over SKW and they ought to collect maximum points in that match on Saturday before seeing how they can find their way around Pirates on Sunday.BA and Tigers have matches in hand after their match was abandoned due to a mix-up with balls which were apparently not visible at night.No date has been set for that match as yet.