Tigers out to haunt Civics

CIVICS will tonight come up against their worst nightmare in Tigers when they meet in an MTC Namibia Premier League match at the Khomasdal Stadium.

Kick-off is at 20h00.Civics have over the years struggled to beat Tigers in the league and also lost 2-0 to the Donkerhoek side in the first leg this season.Tigers have been the biggest threat to Civics and tonight’s match will be no different, despite the fact that the Civilians are in a comfortable third spot compared to Tigers who are in tenth spot on the log standings.Civics will have to deploy their best defence if they want to keep Tigers at bay, which clearly had a poor season thus far.Tigers have lost 10 matches in the league to date, while Civics only ended on the losing side four times.On top of that, Tigers have conceded the highest tally of goals (39) in the league (alongside Mighty Gunners), while Civics have given away only 17.But tonight history will be left in the dressing rooms and Tigers will aim at further adding to Civics’ woes after they drew 0-all in their last match against Ramblers.Civics coach Ricardo Mannetti has the mandate to win at all costs against Tigers if he still wants to keep table-toppers SKW in check before the league comes to a conclusion in June.The onus is on Tigers coaches Page Ananias and Rusten Mogane to field players who can stall the progress of Civics in the league, or alternatively give the opposition the chance to keep their title ambitions a chance.A loss for Tigers will increase their chances of ending in an unfavourable position on the log later in the season and they might face relegation if Chief Santos produce a miracle in their last five matches.In other matches at the weekend, second-placed African Stars have the chance to close the gap on SKW if they go past lowly-placed Mighty GunnersStars suffered a 2-1 defeat to Hotspurs last weekend and will go full out to remedy that situation with a win and to satisfy their fans.Eleven Arrows can once again capitalise on their home-ground advantage when they host Ramblers, after they narrowly beat Chief Santos 1-0 last weekend.Orlando Pirates meet Oshakati City in Windhoek at the SKW Stadium on Saturday, while Hotspurs host Chief Santos at the Khomasdal Stadium on the same day.Pirates drew against Gunners last weekend and a repeat of that, or a loss, will not be well received by their support base which has seen little good in the team in their last few outings. corry@namibian.com.na