Africa-Press – Namibia. COHEN FC 1 (CFC 1) had to dig deep to retain the Fistball Indoor Classics title, following an epic final with tournament host Swakopmund FC on Saturday.
The champions were made to sweat for a record-extending fifth consecutive indoor crown by the Swakopmund side.
The five participating teams initially contested in a round robin system, which saw the reigning champions CFC 1 win every match to qualify first for the final.
The blue and whites were followed by SFC’s first team, who were victorious against club mates SFC 2 and SFC 3, but drew against SKW 1, who ended in third place due to an inferior ball difference and had to be satisfied with the ‘small final’.
The green and whites from the capital city brushed off that disappointment to comfortably beat SFC 2 in the B-final 2-0.
The hosts from SFC 1, who reached the final for the first time since 2015, had difficulties at the start of the competition decider as the guests from Windhoek took a quick 2-0 sets lead.
Everything pointed to a straightforward victory for CFC 1 at that point before SFC 1 launched a spirited fightback by attacking with more vigour in the third set. Whipped on by their home fans, SFC 1 won the third 12-10.
Suddenly, it was a balanced encounter with superb fistball quality.
In the fourth set, there were insecurities in the defence and faulty attacks by CFC 1 became common. It remained exciting until the end before CFC 1’s winning mentality prevailed. They secured their fifth indoor championship in a row with a 12-10 set win to conclude the match 3-1.
SFC will look for redemption when the Bank Windhoek League third round match day takes place at Swakopmund on June 11.
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