AfricaPress-Tanzania: BARREN draw heralded the away match performances of Dar es Salaam giants; Simba and Young Africans as both were held in their yesterday’s away matches in Mtwara and Musoma respectively.
Already champions Simba played against Ndanda at Nangwanda Stadium in Mtwara and the match ended scoreless despite having many crafted moves.
The top performer of the day, however, was Simba goalkeeper, Aishi Manula who made countless of daring saves to deny the relegation threatened Ndanda a home victory.
A draw with Ndanda earned Simba 80 points from their 33-game outings, while Ndanda who have remained at 17th place are still at the danger zone with 36 points.
However, much attention for Simba is on their Wednesday’s match against Namungo at Majaliwa Stadium in Ruangwa, Lindi where the stage is set for them to be granted their 20th league title.
It will be the first time for Simba to be presented their league trophy in Lindi hence history books will be rewritten on the day as the region will be engulfed by red and white colours of the club.
Recently, Simba Head Coach Sven Vandenbroeck said they want to wind up the season with much respect by ensuring that they pocket maximum three points from all their remaining clashes.
He also disclosed that they want to lift the Azam Sports Federation Cup (ASFC) title so as to end the season with two trophies.
If Simba manage to win a brace of titles, it will be a remarkable achievement for the Belgian trainer to do so in his first season at the helm of the club while waiting to see how he is going to shape his team ahead of the CAF Champions League (CAF CL) next season.
At Karume Stadium Musoma Simba’s traditional rivals Young Africans were also forced to a barren draw with Biashara United.
The results jeopardize Yanga’s second position as Azam, who were scheduled to play bottom-placed Singida United, can leapfrog them.
The 61 points collected by Yanga after their match with Biashara can be attained by Azam who had 59 points prior to their yesterday’s match. Meanwhile, Yanga captain Papy Tshishimbi who did not travel with the team to Mara said he is progressing well with the leg injury and he is hopeful to rejoin the squad when they come back to Dar es Salaam.
Tshishimbi has not been featured for his side ever since the resumption of the league thereby enabling Juma Abdul who is Assistant Captain to take charge of leadership responsibilities.
“For now, I feel better and I have started training sessions as recommended by the coach so as to be completely fit when the team comes back here for further league matches”.
“Let me congratulate my fellow players for their hardworking spirit in most of the games they played which make me very happy”.
“Even the technical bench is doing a recommendable job to rotate the team to ensure that positive results are obtained,” said the DR Congo midfielder.
Asked to comment about the looming traditional derby between Simba and Yanga, Tshishimbi replied that in his mind, he does not think of one game but rather the whole league season.
