ORLANDO Pirates became new champions of the Cell One NFA Cup, when they edged out Eleven Arrows 3-2 in a dramatic penalty-shoot-out at the Independence Stadium on Saturday.
The match ended in a 1-all draw after 120 minutes of play, with Arrows dynamo Rudolf Bester on target for his side, while Samson John replied for Pirates.Bester send the opener past Pirates keeper Heribert Kapeng two minutes into the second half, while John blasted home the equaliser on minute 67.The win by Pirates landed them a hefty N$500 000 cheque from competition sponsors Cell One, while Arrows had to be satisfied with N$200 000, despite a gutsy performance on the day.Despite pulsating halves in both normal and extra-time, the match was forced into penalties which ultimately send the thousands of Pirates followers in raptures, as Gerry Keister scored the winner.Tsiki Somseb, Bobby Kaapama and Muna Katupose all had their spot-shots saved by Kapeng, who despite his weight is incredibly mobile.Somseb send his shot straight into Kapeng´s path, Kaapama had his saved without much effort, while Katupose failed to get his boot around the ball which ultimately appeared to lame for Kapeng to hold on.Bester, and Freedom Puriza were the only two who succeeded for Arrows with clean, top of the deck strikes.For the Buccaneers, Meraai Swartbooi had his side’s opening shot saved by Virgil Vries, while Johannes Seibeb scored the second.Second half-substitute Neville Nanub shot wide of the goal, while captain Enrico Afrikaner buried his emphatically.The deciding penalty after both teams were tied at 2-all rested on former Black Africa and Ramblers striker Gerry Keister, who converted in great style to give the Sea Robbers their biggest win of the season, after missing out on the league title.Keister has now turned into a fully-fledged defender and as a senior member of the Sea Robbers, the decisive penalty strike will linger for long in his memory.African Stars wrestled the league title from the Buccaneers this season and they had everything to play for in the NFA Cup, to at least walk away with some silverware this season.They indeed walked away with the biggest prize in domestic football and they marvellously closed the domestic football in style, as they had their biggest crowd this season on the day.Arrows had their title ambitions seriously dented especially in the second round of the season and were hoping to land the NFA Cup, to compensate for their miss on the league championship.The final was however not dull in the eyes of many, while it was largely incident free with virtually no cases of violence reported among the spectators.It was a dream final between the top two leading teams in the country and the organisation by Cell One to bring it to an explosive affair, worked out perfectly.For the first time in years, the players and management of both teams received their medals from NFA patron Hage Geingob and football boss John Muinjo, at the entrance of the VIP stand.The players were given the chance to display their trophy and medals to the media and their fans on a podium specifically erected for that purpose, while champagne flowed freely as celebrations set in. The organisers made a great effort to improve on especially the cup presentation as compared to the woeful planning that went in the presentation for to league winners Stars a week ago.This time, strict security measures were in place to keep marauding fans away from especially the players, while the media were allowed to do interviews and managed to take photographs. Namibian music icons, Gazza and Michael !Owos-oab also provided the fans with some great vibes and vigorous dancing during and after the match to bring it to a fabulous ending. corry@namibian.com.na
