Mighty Gunners made a serious statement of intent with a 2-1 win against Unam on Saturday.
Since Namibia's independence 36 years ago the Otjiwarongo outfit have never won the league but they have been amongst the title challengers in recent years and this could be the year that they rewrite the record books.
Last season they came fifth, in 2024 they came sixth and in 2023 they came fourth, but this season they came out firing and have been amongst the leaders from the start.
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By the fifth round they went to the top of the log for the first time, and although African Stars and KK Palace briefly replaced them, Gunners were back on top after Round 13 before the festive break.
On Saturday, a never say-die-attitude saw them grabbing a valuable three points on the road as Bernand Horaseb scored the winner late into injury time, to remain at the top of the log.
Ronald Kauvi gave Unam the lead with a great freekick after 12 minutes, but barely three minutes later Gunners drew level when Horaseb shot home a rebound from a corner.
Gunners upped the tempo after the break with Mashiku Muyeka impressing with his speed and providing some inviting crosses from the right wing, while Simeon Nambondi, Deon Gariseb and Motjari Kazondunge all came close to scoring.
At the other end, Vijihimsa Siririka and Paulus Amutenya also came close for Unam, but they suffered a blow when Giovani Nauseb was sent off for a foul with 15 minutes to go. Unam, however, seemed to have done enough to hold on for a draw, but Gunners had the final say when Horaseb struck from a counter-attack deep into injury time to give them a priceless victory.
That temporarily put them at the top of the log, but their coach Katti Nambadi did not want to talk about the title race.
"It's still too early to talk about the title race, because these are still the last matches of the first round, so we'll just take it game by game, and we'll only talk about the title race maybe in the middle of the second round," he said.
"The game was very intense and very tactical, but we managed to maintain the intensity of the game. We played on the wings - that's where our strong point is and then luckily enough we got the winning goal," he added.
The defeat was a blow to Unam's title aspirations, while it was in fact their first defeat of the season, but coach Robert Nauseb was not too perturbed.
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"That's football - we made a mistake, we should have managed the ball better, maybe take it to the corner, and manage the time better because the time was up," he said.
"But we got caught with a long ball - those are the things that happen in football, so we will just have to take it on the chin and dust ourselves off and come back tomorrow," he added.
Nauseb also paid tribute to Gunners, saying they are a strong side.
"We knew it would be a difficult game - Mighty Gunners are a difficult opponent to play against, and we need to respect our opponents, they are doing well, so we need to give credit where it's due and take the defeat," he said.
"We still have our goals where we want to end and we are still within range of it, so we will just keep on working," he added.
