Tigers, Stars settle for draws

TITLE pretenders Tigers were held to a goalless draw by Eleven Arrows at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday, as they failed to close the gap on MTC Premiership log leaders African Stars.

On Friday, Civics easily beat SKW 3-0, thanks to goals from Alfred Ndyenge, Bradley Wermann, and Pineas Jacob. Elsewhere, Ramblers continued their good run of form by defeating United Stars 3-1 away. A Jerome Louis brace and a Marco van Wyk strike were enough for Black Africa to overcome Oshakati City. The second match of a double header was called off on Saturday due to faulty lighting and had to be replayed on Sunday morning. League leaders African Stars maintained their lead at the top with a draw against Blue Waters. They are now a point clear of Orlando Pirates who beat Hotspurs 1-0 on Wednesday.Arrows had the better of the first half with a couple of half chances but the Tigers rearguard stood firm. Kenny Malgas won and missed a penalty midway through the first half as Tigers continued to misfire upfront. Arrows defender Chris Katjiukua clumsily bundled Malgas over and the striker dusted himself off and smacked his effort onto the crossbar. In the second half, Tigers began to exert themselves on the game as they pushed for the opener. Marvin Areseb came closest to breaking the deadlock with a snap shot, just from inside the penalty area, but the woodwork denied him that chance with Arrows keeper Virgil Vries well beaten. In an attempt to grab all three points, Arrows coach Congo Hindjou brought on the Katupose twins to galvanise his attack but with little success. Neither side managed to capitalise, and the match that promised so much early on ended in a draw.Hindjou said he was happy with the draw and expects the team to finish among the top three this season. ‘We must be happy to come away with a point. We had the better of the first half but they had a lot of chances in the second half. The guys did very well not to concede but maybe we could have taken one of our chances as well.’’We cannot win the league but if we win all our remaining games, we will finish in third position. This will be good for us as we did not have the best start to the league.’Meanwhile Tigers’ missed chances means they are overtaken by Black Africa and drop to fourth on the log. Tigers mentor Brian Isaacks says his side need to take the chances that come their way if they are to mount a serious challenge at the top. ‘The performance was excellent but I’m not pleased with the result. We missed a penalty and other very good chances. We could have narrowed the gap to Stars,’ he said.- sheefeni@namibian.com.na