Tigers’ roar scares Civics

TIGERS roared to the top of the Namibia Premiership on Wednesday, at least temporarily, when they dismissed favourites Civics 2-0 in their midweek encounter at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.

Tigers’ electrifying hitman Tangeni Shipahu scored a brace for his side which looks destined for greater things this season, leaving Civics stuck in the bottom half of the table without any win so far.Shipahu also scored in their opening match against Orlando Pirates and now has three goals to his credit, while Civics still have to put points on the score sheet as they first succumbed to a 3-1 defeat to Black Africa.Civics owner Helmuth Scharnowski was not a happy man after the match, saying that he was utterly disappointed with the outcome.’It is a total disappointment. We are attacking enough, but we are not getting the goals. But I think we are still not there yet. We are not sharp enough and we have to do a lot of work to be able to be competitive this season,’ he said.Tigers official Escher Luanda said after the match that he was happy with the progress of the team so far, and that coach Brian Isaacs has made a huge difference in the side.’We have to build on these wins and one only hopes that we remain focused on the job at hand. We know that there are tough matches waiting for us out there, but at the same time, I also think that the team has now arrived and we are ready to compete with a lot of confidence. Our game has really improved a lot in our pre-season training matches and the attitude that the players have shown so far has been great. I am happy for the boys.The win sent Tigers to the top of the summit with five points and will see if they can hang on to it for a while unless Black Africa loses to African Stars tonight.STARS UNDER FIREAfrican Stars, who until late yesterday claimed to have signed former Orlando Pirates and Brave Warriors midfield genius Quinton Jacobs, need to show their old form if they want to muster their way past Black Africa tonight.The ‘Lively Lions’ have their tails up after their 3-1 demolition of Civics last weekend and want to build on that.Stars will be the underdogs in this one after starting off the league in a rather slow gear, beating rookies United Stars 1-0 in their away match played at Tsumeb. The match will turn out to be a humdinger and will be decided at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight at 20h00.Defending champions Stars which last season struggled without an all-out striker will have to find their way past a rigid BA defence which last weekend allowed Civics little room to manoeuvre.BA on their side must produce the magic in midfield to match the calibre of Jacobs in case he is cleared to play for Stars on the night.In other matches on Saturday, Orlando Pirates have a date with coastal rivals Eleven Arrows at the same venue at 20h00, while Blue Waters host Ramblers at the Atlantis Stadium in Walvis Bay at 16h00.SKW welcome Oshakati City at their home venue at 17h00, while United Stars will take their first trip to Windhoek when they are to meet Hotspurs at 14h00 at the Independence Stadium. corry@namibian.com.na