An outstanding goal by Floris Diergaardt gave Civics victory against African Stars in the MTC NFA Cup final on Saturday.
Diergaardt struck a great freekick on 70 minutes, slamming a cracking shot past Starsâ?? keeper Max Mbaeva into the near corner of the net.
The goal was all that separated the teams in a hard fought and evenly contested final played out in front of about 5 000 fans, most of whom were dressed in the red and white colours of African Stars.
It was Civicsâ?? first cup title since they also beat Stars on penalties in the 2006 FNB Cup final, while it was only the second time that they had won the MTC NFA Cup title. Their first title came in 2003 when they beat Tigers 4-1.
It was Starsâ?? fourth Cup final in recent years, although they only ended on the winning side once. They won the MTC NFA Cup after beating Pirates on penalties last year, but they were the losing finalists in the FNB Cup against Civics in 2006 and against Blue Waters in 2005.
Civics won the first prize of N$350 000 while tars received the runners-up cheque of N$130 000.
Civicsâ?? president Helmut Scharnowski was happy with the result although he admitted that it was not a very great spectacle.
â??Actually I was not so happy with our performance. It was a tactical match and I saw a lot of mistakes. In a cup match you must go full out which was not the case, but Florisâ?? goal was outstanding. It was a typical cup game where both sides used safety first tactics,â? he said.
â??I thought Jamu Ngatjizeko and Erastus Ndjavera were outstanding in defence, while our goalie Esau Tjiuoro made some good saves,â? he added.
Civicsâ?? coach Ricardo Mannetti said he was happy with the win even though they did not play very well.
â??It wasnâ??t a great match and we didnâ??t play too well. But it showed that we can win even when we are not playing well and thatâ??s the most important thing. We are sending a message to our rivals that we can win even with bad soccer,â? he said.
It was the first title that Mannetti won as a coach with his former club Civics and he paid tribute to everyone involved in the club.
â??Itâ??s great to win as a coach but everyone at the club contributed to this. From my assistant coach Seun Stuurman to our manager Paul Stramis, our president Helmut Scharnowski, our medical staff, and of course the players, everyone worked very hard for this,â? he said.
The individual winners of the competition were as follows:
Goal scorer of the series: Floris Diergaardt (Civics) Six goals
Player of the Series: Erastus Ndjavera (Civics)
Goalie of the Series: Esau Tjiouro (Civics)
Referee of the Series: Reinhold Shikongo
Assistant referee of the series: Simson Tjahangungu
Team of the Series: African Stars
Team manager of the Series: Paul Stramis (Civics)
Coach of the Series: Ricardo Mannetti (Civics)