UNAM and DTS were comfortable winners of the Telecom Indoor Hockey Men and Women’s Premier League titles when the league ended on Saturday.
Unam won the men’s title with 24 points, finishing well clear of second-placed Windhoek Old Boys (19 points) and third placed DTS (17 points).Unam brushed aside all opposition and already won the title with three matches to go. With the title already assured, they suffered their first defeat of the season going down 7-6 to Wanderers last Thursday, while DTS held them to a 3-3 draw the next day.In their final match of the season, Unam were back to winning ways, beating the X Team from Swakopmund 6-2 on Saturday.With the title Unam underlined their total domination of the Men’s Premier League over the past decade since it was their 12th title in 13 years. The only time they did not win the title since 2000 was in 2010 when WOB won, after Unam’s star player Siabonga Martins received a 10-match ban.Interestingly enough, Martins joined WOB this year, but his loss was not much felt as Unam continued to unearth new talent.The 22-year-old Kave Tjikuniva took over Martin’ mantle as the most exciting attacking player in the league, while 19-year-old Penda Nambala also came to the fore, especially with his drag flicks from dead ball situations.But it was their veteran captain Joseph Kashamako who was their star player, scoring close to 30 goals for the season. In his last four matches alone he scored 14 goals, which included six goals in Unam’s 7-5 victory against Wanderers on May 12.Unam coach Erwin Handura praised God for their victory.’All the honour and glory goes to God who helped us through all the difficult times,’ he said.Handura said he was confident that Unam could retain their pre-eminence in the years to come.’A team is made up of many components, not just one or two players. Next year I won’t play so much and will concentrate more on coaching because we have some great youngsters coming through,’ he said.DTS won the Women’s Premier League for the first time in their history by finishing the season unbeaten.They did so in great style, winning all their matches with maximum bonus points, except for their final match on Saturday when their opponents WOB failed to turn up. DTS comfortably won the league with 23 points, scoring 28 goals in the process and conceding only 5 goals.WOB came second on 15 points, while Wanderers and Unam both finished on 3 points.Maggi Mengo, who previously played professional hockey in Holland, was DTS’s star player and top goalscorer. Some of her top performances included scoring six goals against Wanderers on February 19, a hat-trick against WOB on March 10 and four goals against Wanderers on May 12.Unam received N$5 000 from sponsors Telecom for winning the Men’s Premier League, while second-placed WOB received N$3 000; third-placed DTS received N$2 000; fourth-placed X Team received N$1 000 and fifth-placed Wanderers received N$500.DTS received N$5 000 for winning the Women’s Premier League, while second-placed WOB received N$3 000; third-placed Wanderers N$2 000; and fourth-placed Unam N$1 000.Windhoek Old Boys won the Men’s First Division title while Wanderers won the Women’s First Division title.Coastal Raiders won the Men’s Second Division title and were promoted to the First Division, while DTS won the Women’s Second Division title.- namibiasport.com.na
