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OTJIWARONGO Secondary School won the MTC Hopsol u19 football league title for the first time when they beat Windhoek Gymnasium 1-0 in the final yesterday morning.

Attacking midfielder John Araeb scored the only goal of the game shortly before halftime, with a brilliant freekick, and although Windhoek Gymnasium had several opportunities to equalise after the break, they failed to do so and Otjiwarongo held on for a deserved win.

Otjiwarongo did the early attacking with Araeb, Peter Kamati and Christiaan Somseb all prominent, while Nelito Da Costa had a shot saved from a corner.

With Araeb and Somseb providing good crosses from the wings, more chances came Otjiwarongo’s way and they finally took the lead through a great goal by Araeb, who whipped a freekick into the far corner from the right hand touchline just before halftime.

Windhoek Gymnasium came back strongly in the second half, with Petrus Laudika hitting the crossbar from a corner, while Otjiwarongo’s goalie did well to tip a long range effort by Kavekararere Nguatjija over for a corner.

John Pedro and Laudika both came close while Kavehungua Kavita came to Otjiwarongo’s rescue when he cleared a shot by Jaden Januarie off the line in the final stages, as Otjiwarongo held on for the win.

Otjiwarongo coach Roberto Hifitikeko said it was a great final.

“It was a very tough game, and we had to fight for the win. We won from a set piece, which means that it was a very tight game. It was exciting to watch and our boys, 18, 19-year-olds, displayed great skills and had such maturity to win a final like this one, so I can only be proud of them,” he said.

“This title means a lot to us because for the past three years we fell out in the semifinals and last year we lost to Ramblers in the final, so to come here, all the way from Otjiwarongo and beat Windhoek-based teams, it means a lot to us,” he added.

Hifitikeko said the MTC Hopsol league was very important for the development of football in Otjiwarongo.

“This tournament has definitely helped us. There aren’t any leagues where we come from so the initiative that Hopsol has put in and the people behind the scenes all working hard, we can only applaud it and we are very thankful, because through this our boys have now been exposed to other teams, outside of the town where they are staying,” he said.

Both semifinals went down to the wire, with Windhoek Gymnasium beating Ramblers on penalties after a full time score of 2-2, while Otjiwarongo beat Kasaona Football Academy 1-0 after winning a last minute penalty.

Kasaona FA won the third place play-off, while the following individual awards were also awarded:

Top goal scorer: Raymondo Stern (ACFA): 14 goals

Goalkeeper of the year: Tshamiso Pieters (KFA)

Coach of the year: Ricky Averia (ACFA)

Team of the year: KFA

Most valuable player: Raymondo Stern (ACFA).