Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA SC assistant coach Selemani Matola has said that they struggled hard for their yesterday’s slim away victory over league tailing side, Mwadui FC to get three away crucial points.
A towering John Bocco headed home an important goal to give Simba SC an away 1-0 win over hosts Mwadui at Kambarage Stadium in Shinyanga, keeping up the pressure on league leaders, Young Africans for the fight of the league table and the title.
Matola apart from hailing his boys for their brave fight, he had also hailed Mwadui for their good ‘game plan’ that denied them goals.
“Mwadui looked to be an improved side in their defence line up compared to their two previous matches,” “They formed a good game plan that gave us a hard time to penetrate into their defence,” ‘However, away matches always produce hard results, but all in all we managed to get three points,” The win has enabled Simba to leapfrog Azam FC ( with 50 points) into second place with 52 points from 22 matches.
The defeat also sinks further Mwadui FC in their last position of 18- team log, tailing with 16 points from 26 matches. Yanga are leading the table with 54 points from 25 matches after their recent 1-0 win over Biashara United. Simba will therefore head to face Kagera Sugar and later Gwambina FC in other league assignments.
Commenting on their home defeat, Salhina Mjengwa, who is the head coach of Mwadui FC said that they played against the best team, the reason why they lost at home.
He said that the low quality of his players could not manage the pressure from well drilled Simba, who were at a good form despite registering a slim win.
Bocco, who replaced Jonas Mkude on resumption, scored the goal after he was set through by Joash Onyango’s header off a corner ball by Benard Morrison.
He has been a key player in Simba’s away victories despite battling injuries that have denied him enough time to stamp his authority on the team.
Bocco had his mission for the goal since he was called in as he was in the 56th and 51st minutes, respectively ruled to be at off side positions.
Signed by Simba in 2017 from Azam FC, he has so far scored ten goals for Simba in the Premier League this season despite stiff competition for first-team places with Meddie Kagere – who tops the chart with 11 goals.
In their last head to head, Simba beat Mwadui 5-0 in October last year. In Mwadui’s recent matches, they were beaten 3-1 by JKT Tanzania and lost 0-1 to Mbeya City in March and drew 0-0 with Azam FC in the same month. Mwadui’s last emphatic win was 4-1 against Gwambina recorded in February this year.
On the other hand, Simba recent records include their 5-0 humiliation against Mtibwa Sugar and 1-1 with Tanzania Prisons before their league matches were interrupted by their CAF Champions League campaigns to quarterfinals.
