Africa-Press – Tanzania. AFTER surviving a straight relegation, Coastal Union and Mtibwa Sugar have tricky crossword puzzles to solve as they face Pamba and Transit Camp in the first leg of playoff matches tomorrow.
Both Coastal Union and Mtibwa Sugar will begin their assignments away from home as they travel to Mwanza and Dar es Salaam with the second leg of the playoff games expected on Saturday in Tanga and Morogoro.
This is the only chance for the two teams to regain ticket to play in the Mainland Premier League next season knowing in advance that any negative outcome will see them heading into relegation hell.
Coastal Union had to shift into the top gear to silence Kagera Sugar 3-1 at their wellattended match at Mkwakwani Stadium in Tanga to slide into one of the two spots of playoff pack.
It was a good response from Juma Mgunda’s side to make such a meaningful impact but as he said after the match, time to celebrate is not yet here as they have two more boundaries to cross.
“We do not underrate them (Pamba) and we are going to play against them as we normally do to other teams. For us, we do not have time to rest or sleep until we make sure that we are back in the league next season.
“I thank Tanga residents for their immeasurable support they gave us in our final game of the season at home until we pocketed the vital win.
“The same unity should be provided in both of our playoff matches so that in the end, we all play a role to retain our beloved team in the league,” Mgunda said.
The victory saw Coastal Union moving to 13th slot on the ladder with 40 points from 34 duels similar to Kagera Sugar but the latter had a superior goal advantage hence occupying 12th position comfortably.
Likewise, Mtibwa Sugar despite losing 2-1 to JKT Tanzania booked themselves a ticket to meet promotionhungry side Transit Camp in a must watch two-legged battle.
However, both Pamba and Transit Camp emerged from group B of the First Division League (FDL) as they occupied second and third position after garnering 36 and 30 points apiece.
In group A of FDL, Mbeya Kwanza earned promotion after maximising 41 points while in group B, Geita Gold pocketed 37 points to step into the top flight league.
