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AFRICAN Stars moved 10 points clear at the top of the Debmarine Namibia Premiership after collecting maximum points over the weekend.

Marvin Mbakera’s log leaders edged Civics 1-0 on Saturday, before a 5-1 demolition of bottom-side Citizens the following day to total 35 points.

The victories extended Stars’ unbeaten start to the campaign to 11 matches, of which nine are wins, with two draws.

Life Fighters have 25 points and remain second after a 4-3 home loss to improving Tigers on Saturday, followed by a 3-1 win against mid-table Orlando Pirates.

Mighty Gunners and Blue Waters swapped places, with the former now third, thanks to 2-0 and 1-0 wins over Young African and Black Africa.

Gunners are on 24 points, with fifth-placed Blue Waters, who lost 3-2 to Tura Magic and 1-0 to Unam, on 21.

On the opposite end of the table, Citizens remain rooted to the bottom of the log despite earning a point away to Young Brazilians (YB) of Karasburg on Saturday.

Citizens are experiencing a nightmare season, having collected a paltry two points from 13 matches so far.

YB and Civics also swapped places on the log. YB are now 11th on 14 points after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Civics, which dropped to 14th spot with 12 points.

RESILIENT

Mighty Gunners coach Gerhard Kahengari was delighted with the weekend’s shift, given the difficulty of maintaining optimum levels when playing twice in two days.

“What more can I ask from my players? It was a brilliant performance. Although, we performed slightly below par today because of the match yesterday and the travelling. Getting the result is the important factor,” he said Kahengari.

Rival coach Brian Isaacs believes his Black Africa side can get better results if they stay switched on during matches.

“Today we played well, we created chances, but we made a silly mistake at the back and they scored. Opposition. It happened yesterday also.

We created chances, but we could not put them away, and at the end of the day were punished,” he said.

“In the earlier stages [of the season] it was a matter of not having the right players. But now they are used to my training methods and standard of premier league. Still, the lack of concentration is letting us down. It is something we need to work on to improve.”

MAGIC TRICK

Timothy Tjongarero was a happy man after his Magician pulled the rabbit out of the hat when coming from 2-0 down at half-time to beat Blue Waters 3-2 in a thriller at Unam Stadium on Saturday.

“A game of two halves, as usual the subs made the difference, and that’s what you want to see. Football is not only about the first 11. It’s about what the plan B is, and I think the plan B worked for us,” he said.

“Importantly, we must learn to keep our cool, especially to close the middle more, because those goals could have been defended better,” he said.

“But these are youngsters, they must learn. These are some of the lessons you can only learn on the job. Gradually they are improving, and that’s what you want to see – the improvement of young players.”

Lucky Shipanga says Blue Waters’ substitutes failed to maintain the momentum from a clinical first half against Tura Magic.

“I don’t call it unlucky. I’m very disappointed. You cannot lead 2-0 and concede three goals in the second half. You must expect and know that [playing] away is not easy. You need to have that physical fight,” he said.

“When changes are made, fresh legs mean go in and improve or maintain. This character is what we need to show. Or are we only good at Walvis Bay and not good away? We need to fight.”