Defending champions Civics crashed to their third defeat of the season when African Stars beat them 2-0 at the Ramblers field on Saturday.
Civics had their chances, but Brian Brendell and Patrick Mkontwana wasted good opportunities and it was Stars who took the lead in the 26th minute. Steve Tjeenao sent in a cross and Ninja Karongee chipped it over Esau Tjiouro into an empty net.
Civicsâ?? strike force was ineffective and they rang the changes in the second half, bringing on William Chilufya, Floris Diergaardt and the teenager Nelson Angula, but it didnâ??t help much. Starsâ?? defence stood firm and regularly caught Civics with their effective offside trap.
Civicsâ?? best chance in the second half came when Floris Diergaardt whipped in a cross and William Chilufya blasted over from right in front of goals.
But Stars showed more penetration, with Esegiel Tjozongoro blasting over the net, while Karongee nearly scored a second from a goalmouth melee, but his shot rebounded off the upright.
Civicsâ?? defence looked out of sorts and Stars finally broke through in the last minute of the game when Edison Muheua sent a cracking 30m shot flying high into the roof of the net to send Starsâ?? fans home in high spirits.
For Civics, however, it was all gloom and their chances of retaining the title are starting to recede as team manager Paul Stramis acknowledged after the game.
â??We didnâ??t play very well and we didnâ??t take our chances. There is still a long way to go, but things are starting to get difficult now. Ramblers and SKW are now three points ahead of us and now we have to chase them. In the past we won the league because we accumulated enough points at the start, but now we are the ones that have to do the chasing,â? he said.
In other matches on Saturday, Black Africa recorded a good away win, beating Fedics United 4-2 in Keetmanshoop. The victory sees BA joining Ramblers and Cymot SKW at the top on 13 points.
The new log leaders, however, are Eleven Arrows, who beat Oshakati City 1-0 at home in Walvis Bay. They are also on 13 points but lead the log on goal difference.
In Otjiwarongo, Mighty Gunners and Blue Waters drew 0-0, a result which sees Blue Waters moving off the foot of the table up to 11th position, with Fedics taking over at the bottom of the log.