SIMBA SC Head Coach , Sven Vandenbroeck complimented his side’s massive comeback in their 2-1 win ov er determined Polisi Tanzania at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.
Substitute Ibrahim Ajibu scored in the stoppage time to help his team claim vital three points which earned his team a 50-point mark after playing 19 matches to make Simba complete the league’s first round in style.
It was the first goal for Ajibu this season who was introduced in the second half of the tense match replacing Sudanese midfielder, Sharaf Shiboub.
The defending champions have had a perfect run in the first round of the contest after losing only one game against Mwadui FC (1-0) and two draws against Tanzania Prisons (0-0) and Young Africans (2-2) respectively.
But, reminiscing after the encounter, Vandenbroeck said he was happy to see the fighting spirit from his charges which consequently led to the scoring of the winning goal.
“I have to give big compliment to the players because they turned the game well and enabled us to win in the last minutes of the match. It was a good fighting spirit and you could see that there was a team playing hard to earn a victory,” said he.
He picked Ajibu and Francis Kahata as among the players who spearheaded the team’s victory on the day saying the displayed good performance was crucial for the whole team’s triumph.
However, the Belgian trainer disclosed that he was not particularly happy with the first half display from his two central defenders insisting that they were too slow to drive the team forward.
“Our opponents were well organised in the midfield as such, we failed to find a solution throughout the first half. It was not the level of our best performance,” Vandenbroeck said.
He added that by playing league matches after every two days, players get tired easily thereby losing momentum to contain the resistance of the game throughout the normal period of play.
However, his counterpart from Polisi Tanzania, Malale Hamsini said he was not fully satisfied with Simba’s first goal netted by skipper John Bocco saying it was a clear offside.
“If every day we allow offside goals like that, our football will not reach far. Some of the decisions made by referees are very questionable and they need to change,” Hamsini said.
He added: “Our aim is to see the league champions being found fairly without taking sides. But generally, it was a good competitive match worth watching, but the referees are the ones spoiling football in the country.”
It was Sixtus Sabilo who opened the goal account for the visitors deep in the first half before a leveler from Bocco and a winner by Ajibu, both goals coming in the second half
