Mgunda hails charges for maturity

SIMBA interim Head Coach Juma Mgunda said picking a 1-0 victory against Tanzania Prisons was not easy insisting that the game was competitive in a venue very difficult to stamp success.

Veteran midfielder Jonas Mkude was the game changer on the day as his 85th minute strike was enough to give his side maximum points.

The victory drove them to second place on the log with 10 points similar to leaders Young Africans who enjoy the top seat courtesy of a superior goal average as they have scored nine goals against eight goals netted by Simba.

However, reacting after steering Simba to a win in his first premier league game in charge, Mgunda admitted that the encounter was tense but he hailed his players for showing maturity.

“Simba have a bad record against Tanzania Prisons when playing here (Sokoine Stadium), but we have managed to break that jinx even though our opponents were very competitive.

“To us, the most important thing is the victory, we came here with the target to win and at the end we have excelled. Our focus now is on the next match,” Mgunda said.

He then gave kudos to Tanzania Prisons for showcasing a good fight on the day saying facing them at Sokoine Stadium has never been an easy task for the Msimbazi Street Reds.

He also defended his tactical switch of calling to bench center-back Henock Inonga for Joash Onyango saying the former picked up muscle injury hence he was substituted.

In another interview, Onyango admitted that he recently requested Simba management to release him saying he was not in plans of the team’s former coach Zoran Manojlovic.

Coming up, Mgunda’s charges play Nyasa Big Bullets of Malawi in the second leg match of CAF Champions League at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam this Sunday.

On his part, Tanzania Prisons midfielder Samson Mbangula said one mistake they conceded rewarded Simba a vital win on the day while giving credit to his teammates for showing a competitive performance.

“They have experienced players who can transform the game at any time. For us, we had no pressure at all that is why we were able to create scoring opportunities only that we lacked scoring efficiency,” he said.

In their upcoming fixture, Tanzania Prisons will welcome Azam at the same venue on September 30th before later facing Ihefu and Mtibwa Sugar.