Africa-Press – Tanzania. SIMBA have maintained that they will continue to battle for victories in their remaining league matches saying the fighting spirit is what they are made up of as a club.
The defending champions were held to a barren draw by Azam at Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, and that made them drop two points which practically helped their traditional rivals Young Africans to intensify their run towards the league’s throne.
The Msimbazi Street Reds are now 10-point inferior to their rivals Yanga as they have gathered 50 points from 24 matches while the latter have annexed 60 points from the same number of games placing the championship on the sniperscope.
Mathematically, if Simba excel to win all their six remaining matches, they will reach 68 points while Yanga, if they win three of their six next fixtures, they will generate 69 points which is beyond the reach of any team on the log.
Up next, Simba will face on form debutants Geita Gold at CCM Kirumba Stadium in Mwanza on Sunday for yet another sparkling match for the two sides as the marathon towards the end of the season nears finishing line.
At a post-match briefing, Simba Head Coach Pablo Franco said they will not stop to continue fighting for success in all their remaining encounters of the campaign.
“It was a great game which attracted two teams that like to play football. We conceded a goal first after committing a defensive mistake but later, we came back into the game and equalised to make it one apiece.
“About the championship, I have been answering over and over again that will continue to fight for three points in each game coming for us until the end of the season. I am concerned with results stamped by my team not others,” he said.
He also admitted that it was not an outcome they wanted saying whenever they face Azam, it always becomes a difficult match while admitting that his side was out of energy in the last minutes of the game.
His skipper John Bocco expressed his satisfaction for netting the solitary goal against a team he said helped to put him on the map as it is where he began his elite football career and that taking one point from them was not that bad.
On his part, Azam Head Coach Abdihamid Moallin said they will go back on the training field to sort out mistakes which emerged in order to shine in their next game against Mtibwa Sugar at Manungu Complex in Morogoro.
“We already knew that facing them (Simba) was not going to be an easy match but I am convinced with our performance even though the target was to pocket maximum points to keep us moving forward on the table,” he said.
The Chamazi giants are now fifth placed on the log with 33 points, one point behind fourth place occupants Geita Gold and three inferior to Namungo who accommodate third slot with 36 points.
The top four finish battle is likely to be interesting in the remaining six encounters with debutants Geita Gold being a surprise package and a side to watch as the season progresses to a breaking point.
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