Swartbooi shines in Blue Waters romp

Blue Waters moved up to third position on the log after beating Oshakati City 4-0 at Kuisebmond Stadium on Saturday.After an indifferent start to the league, which included a 1-0 home defeat against Ramblers a fortnight ago, Blue Waters moved into top gear against Oshakati.

Their midfield ace Meraai Swartbooi was in fine form, launching many of their attacks and scoring two goals in the process, but Oshakati’s case wasn’t helped by some poor goalkeeping. Their first-choice goalie Henry Basson had a nightmare of a game, letting in two goals through poor decisions, and was eventually replaced by veteran goalie Harry Januarie.Januarie, however, was barely on the field before he had to retrieve the ball from the back of the net after a cracking shot by Swartbooi.Swartbooi opened the scoring when he rose unopposed to head in Tobias Mekondjo’s 14th minute free-kick.Blue Waters kept on attacking with Charles Garoeb dangerous down the left wing and Swartbooi coming close with some long-range efforts.For Oshakati, Simon Pieters and Timoteus Iipinge created some chances on the counter-attack, but they were kept in check by Fisher Kalimba, who marshalled the home team’s defence well.Blue Waters went ahead 2-0 in the 35th minute after a big blunder by Basson, when he came rushing off his line and tried to hoof the ball away.He, however, blasted the ball into his own defender Uwu-Khaeb, and they watched helplessly as the ball rebounded into an empty net.Another Basson blunder stretched Blue Waters’ lead to 3-0 in the 75th minute.He tried to dribble the ball out of his penalty box, but was dispossessed by Armando Perdo who tapped the ball into an empty net.Shortly afterwards Basson was replaced by Harry Januarie, but as soon as he entered play, Swartbooi blasted in a long-range cracker to make the final score 4-0.In the second match at Kuisebmond, Eleven Arrows were on the ropes against Chief Santos, before their Zambian midfielder Joseph Chanda inspired a great comeback.At half-time Chief Santos were leading 2-0 and seemingly on the way to a valuable away win, but their hopes were shattered by a great Arrows recovery.Steve Tjeenao put the visitors ahead in the 20th minute when he latched on to a Brian Gurirab cross and scored with a fine angled shot.Five minutes later they went further ahead when Tjeenao provided a sharp cross that Neville Gariseb drilled into the net at the far post.With Arrows trailing 2-0, some members of the crowd became restless, hurling abuse at referee Christof Dausab, and an Arrows official had to be sent off the bench and into the stand after similar inciteful behaviour.The game however changed dramatically after the break as Chief Santos’ defence was gradually broken down.Chanda grabbed Arrows’ first goal when he latched on to a through ball and calmly tucked the ball past Ben Neibeb in Santos’ goal.Barely three minutes later Chanda was at it again, as he equalised with a fine curling shot from a free kick.The pace picked up as both sides gave it their all to collect maximum points.For Chief Santos Brian Gurirab tried some long-range efforts, but his usual precision was lacking, while recalled national striker Augustinus Mukoya gave Arrows’ defence some testing moments.But with five minutes remaining it was Arrows who got the winner.Charlie Aoseb sparked a counter-attack down the right and centred into the penalty area where young substitute Laban Mualumbirua cracked a volley into the net.Chief Santos tried desperately to come back and nearly equalised in the final minute.From a corner, Brian Gurirab drilled a shot into the crowded box, which deflected off a defender and hit the crossbar.But it was too little, too late, and Arrows held on for a fine win.It was their first win of the season, which saw them moving up two positions to ninth on the MTC Premier League log.Their first-choice goalie Henry Basson had a nightmare of a game, letting in two goals through poor decisions, and was eventually replaced by veteran goalie Harry Januarie.Januarie, however, was barely on the field before he had to retrieve the ball from the back of the net after a cracking shot by Swartbooi.Swartbooi opened the scoring when he rose unopposed to head in Tobias Mekondjo’s 14th minute free-kick.Blue Waters kept on attacking with Charles Garoeb dangerous down the left wing and Swartbooi coming close with some long-range efforts.For Oshakati, Simon Pieters and Timoteus Iipinge created some chances on the counter-attack, but they were kept in check by Fisher Kalimba, who marshalled the home team’s defence well.Blue Waters went ahead 2-0 in the 35th minute after a big blunder by Basson, when he came rushing off his line and tried to hoof the ball away.He, however, blasted the ball into his own defender Uwu-Khaeb, and they watched helplessly as the ball rebounded into an empty net.Another Basson blunder stretched Blue Waters’ lead to 3-0 in the 75th minute.He tried to dribble the ball out of his penalty box, but was dispossessed by Armando Perdo who tapped the ball into an empty net.Shortly afterwards Basson was replaced by Harry Januarie, but as soon as he entered play, Swartbooi blasted in a long-range cracker to make the final score 4-0.In the second match at Kuisebmond, Eleven Arrows were on the ropes against Chief Santos, before their Zambian midfielder Joseph Chanda inspired a great comeback.At half-time Chief Santos were leading 2-0 and seemingly on the way to a valuable away win, but their hopes were shattered by a great Arrows recovery.Steve Tjeenao put the visitors ahead in the 20th minute when he latched on to a Brian Gurirab cross and scored with a fine angled shot.Five minutes later they went further ahead when Tjeenao provided a sharp cross that Neville Gariseb drilled into the net at the far post.With Arrows trailing 2-0, some members of the crowd became restless, hurling abuse at referee Christof Dausab, and an Arrows official had to be sent off the bench and into the stand after similar inciteful behaviour.The game however changed dramatically after the break as Chief Santos’ defence was gradually broken down.Chanda grabbed Arrows’ first goal when he latched on to a through ball and calmly tucked the ball past Ben Neibeb in Santos’ goal.Barely three minutes later Chanda was at it again, as he equalised with a fine curling shot from a free kick.The pace picked up as both sides gave it their all to collect maximum points.For Chief Santos Brian Gurirab tried some long-range efforts, but his usual precision was lacking, while recalled national striker Augustinus Mukoya gave Arrows’ defence some testing moments.But with five minutes remaining it was Arrows who got the winner.Charlie Aoseb sparked a counter-attack down the right and centred into the penalty area where young substitute Laban Mualumbirua cracked a volley into the net.Chief Santos tried desperately to come back and nearly equalised in the final minute.From a corner, Brian Gurirab drilled a shot into the crowded box, which deflected off a defender and hit the crossbar.But it was too little, too late, and Arrows held on for a fine win.It was their first win of the season, which saw them moving up two positions to ninth on the MTC Premier League log.