A brace from Nicodemus Haikali was all Tura Magic needed to intensify Black Africa’s relegation battle in the 2022/23 Debmarine Namibia Premiership season.
Rounds 22 and 23 of the Debmarine Namibia Premiership resumed on Saturday after the international football break with games played in Karasburg, Mariental, Rehoboth, Windhoek, Otjiwarongo and Okahandja.
On Sunday at the UNAM Stadium in the capital, Tura Magic who had a Saturday to forget when they went down 1-0 to Gobabis-based Young African, managed to collect maximum points from relegation-threatened Black Africa (BA) after a hard-fought 90 minutes of exciting football.
Haikali was in scoring mode on the day as he opened the scoring for his side with a brilliant strike just 36 minutes into the first half when he found himself in a one-on-one position with a goalkeeper.
His opener was enough to take the game into the halftime break with a one-goal lead for Magic.
In the second half, 10-time Premier League title winners BA who are now a shadow of themselves came back fighting and found the back of the net in the 50th minute through Denzil Haoseb but their equaliser was not good enough as Haikali once again found the back of the net from a brilliant free-kick with just five minutes left in the game.
The win meant Tura Magic remained sixth on the log standing with 35 points while Black Africa remained 15th out of the 16-team league with 17 points.
In an interview with Nampa, Tura Magic coach Timo Tjongarero said he was happy with the mentality of the boys on the day.
“I think we made good changes and the boys were fighting to win these three points despite BA equalising earlier in the second half. We have young boys that are hungry to work and this type of mentality is what we want if we are to win games,” he said.
In other matches played on Sunday, Okahandja United had a goalless draw against Civics at home while African Stars continued with their impressive form this season with a 3-0 win against Julinho Sporting in Mariental.
In Otjiwarongo, Mighty Gunners overcame the bottom of the log Citizens with a 2-0 score line while in Rehoboth, Blue Waters beat Pirates 2-0.
In an early match played at the UNAM Stadium, Young African managed to collect maximum points over the weekend with their 2-0 win over UNAM.
Meanwhile, Young Brazilian also managed to collect two points from their weekend fixtures when they drew 2-2 against Life Fighters in Karasburg.