Khomas Nampol took the early lead, while defending champions African Stars suffered a shock defeat to FC Ongos in Debmarine Namibia Premiership matches over the weekend.
Newly-promoted Khomas Nampol continued their fine start to the league when they notched up two more victories to go two points clear of the chasing pack at the top of the log.
On Thursday they beat Tigers 2-1 with former Tigers midfielder Absalom Iimbondi coming back to haunt his old club.
He put Khomas Nampol ahead shortly after halftime after latching on to a fine throughball to chip the ball into an empty net, and then struck again with a great freekick in the dying minutes of the game.
Tigers got a late consolation goal when Emmanuel Ampolo headed in from a corner, but they seldom threatened Khomas Nampol’s defence, where their national defenders Denzil Haoseb and Erasmus Ikeinge were in fine form.
After the match Iimbondi said he could not have wished for a better start.
“I could never have asked for this, we were given the win by the Almighty. Yes, I was at Tigers before, but I’ve now joined another club and there’s no feelings on the field of play and I’m just grateful that I could score those goals for my team,” he said.
“It’s a well-managed team, the technical team is great and everything is run properly so I can’t complain. I think we can go far this season. Our target is to get at least 20 points in the first round and if we can get that then I dont see why we cant go for the league title,” he added.
On Sunday, Iimbondi was at it again, scoring another goal in their 3-0 win against Civics, with the other goals coming via Rewaldo Prins and Erich Tsam as Nampol notched up another impressive victory.
That win gave them a maximum nine points after three matches, and two points clear of the chasing pack, who all dropped points over the weekend.
Stars suffered a shock 3-2 defeat to FC Ongos on Sunday in an action-packed match where Ongos rose to the occasion with a great defensive display.
Ongos took an early lead after goals by Nicodemus Haikali and a Stars own goal by Emilio Martin, but Angelo Kuezi opened Stars’ account after a fine solo effort midway through the first half.
Stars upped the tempo after the break, throwing everything into the attack, but Ongos defended superbly and took a 3-1 lead when Tjinge Kapundjiri headed in from a freekick.
Stars managed to pull a goal back by Ibroihim Youssouf in the closing stages, but Ongos held on for a famous win.
One of the defining features of the game was the great midfield battle between national players Ronald Ketjijere of Stars and Wangu Gome of Ongos, with the latter saying it was a good contest.
“Ronald is a very good player. We were told we need to mark him, so I said I will take on the task on myself and we actually had a good battle,” he said.
“African Stars came with a very good plan, but our coach told us how they are playing and we managed to counter them,” he added.
That win followed a 2-1 defeat to Orlando Pirates on Friday, and put Ongos up in second place on six points along with Stars, Blue Waters, Unam, Okahandja United and Tigers.
Stars, however, remain amongst the early pacesetters after beating Young African 2-0 on Saturday, with their mercurial midfielder Willy Stephanus scoring both their goals.
Unam, meanwhile, are also amongst the early leaders after thumping Okakarara Young Warriors 5-1 on Saturday.
Goals by Paulus Amutenya and Friedemann Goraseb gave them a 2-0 lead, but Okakarara replied through Deon Gariseb, and with Unam leading 2-1 at the break it was still anyone’s game.
Unam, however, upped the tempo in the second half and further goals by Donaldson Makaru and a brace by Godwin Eiseb gave them a convincing victory.
Blue Waters, meanwhile, lost 2-1 away to Okahandja United on Saturday, but on Sunday they stopped Unam in their tracks with a 2-1 victory at the Unam Stadium.
Steven Damaseb and Issaskar Gurirab scored for Blue Waters, while Paulus Gideon scored for Unam.
In other matches over the weekend, Life Fighters and Mighty Gunners drew 1-1, Civics beat Young Brazilians 3-2, Tigers beat Young Brazilians 2-1 and Okahandja United beat Okakarara Young Warriors 2-0.
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