Civics beat Ramblers 08.02.2008
Cortesy by Namibiasport

Civics bounced back into title contention with a hard fought 3-1 victory against Ramblers on Friday night.
Civics striker William Chilufya opened the scoring early on when he beat Luther Kanalelo to a high ball in Ramblers’ penalty area to score from close range. Tugela Tuyeni made it 2-0 shortly after the break with a cracking 30m strike, but Nelson Akwenye pulled one back for Ramblers with a fine strike of his own.
Civics however made sure of the victory when their former defender Donelly Nel, playing in his first match for Ramblers, scored an own goal after a backpass caught Ramblers keeper Bullet Kanyemba unawares and the ball rolled over the goal line.

It was a deserved victory for Civics who showed more urgency and took the game to Ramblers in dreadful conditions. Heavy rain had made parts of the field unplayable as the players fought for control in pools of water.
Matters were also not helped as the match commissioner and referee failed to arrive on time, but the match eventually started 20 minutes late after stand-in officials were found.

Chilufya opens scoring
Civics were the first to attack and after early pressure, went ahead in the 13th minute through Chilufya’s opening goal.
Ramblers immediately came back and a cracking shot by Raymond Awaseb rattled the crossbar, while Samson John came close on two occasions.
But Civics’ defence, with Brian Gurirab and Jerry Matik prominent, remained steadfast and towards the end of the first half some forays by Nelson Akwenye were also comfortably dealt with.

Cracking shot by Tuyeni
Civics were again first to attack in the second half and increased their lead through a great strike by Tugela Tuyeni in the 51st minute. He received the ball in a bit of space about 30m out and unleashed a piledriver that rocketed into the right hand corner of the net, giving Kanyemba no chance.
Ramblers fought back and opened their account seven minutes later through a fine low shot by Nelson Akwenye from the edge of the penalty area that hit the back of the net.
But any hopes of a Ramblers revival were shattered four minutes later when a defensive mix-up saw Nel’s backpass rolling over the goal line.
Civics had more chances, with Victor Helu heading wide and Tuyeni once again coming close with another cracking shot.
Ramblers tried hard to get back into the match but couldn’t break through Civics’ defence.

Civics highly motivated
Civics’ manager Paul Stramis was delighted with the victory, saying that they were highly motivated for it.
“Our guys were highly motivated for the match and determined to win. I thought Brian Gurirab and Jerry Matik were excellent in defence, while Jamu Ngatjizeko and Victor Helu played hard in midfield. Our game plan was slightly disrupted when Brian Brendell had to be replaced early on due to a hamstring injury, but the guys kept their cool and everything went well,” he said.
The victory sees Civics moving three places up to third position on the log on 4 points, while Ramblers remain second on 16 points.