Simba cherish win as Ihefu contemplate

SIMBA caretaker coach Juma Mgunda said grabbing maximum points against Ihefu was essential while his counterpart Juma Mwambusi revealed that goalkeeping mistake fuelled their third successive NBC Premier League defeat.

Pape Sakho netted the only goal to enable his team claim maximum points at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam over the weekend as the Msimbazi Street Reds parade 21 points from ten matches.

It was a good reaction from the Msimbazi based giants who in their previous game claimed a 1-1 draw with Singida Big Stars at Liti Stadium in Singida where they came from behind to level the scoreboard via substitute Peter Banda.

“I said before the match that Ihefu are going to give us a good game regardless of the position they occupy on the table…and you have seen that they approached it with positive mentality.

“For us, we are cherishing the three points garnered because that is the most important thing in a football league without considering the number of scored goals,” said Mgunda at a post-match media briefing.

He also raised alarm on the jam-packed premier league fixtures saying matches are being played at short intervals hence making the marathon extremely difficult to withstand.

“The fixture is tight, we had a match on November 9th as well as today (November 12th). Then on November 16th, 19th, 23rd and 27th we are going to be in action…the league is very difficult but we have to prepare well to generate positive results,” he said.

Up next, Simba face Namungo at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in the city on Wednesday in another hot match as whenever the duo interface, classic match is witnessed.

His Ihefu colleague Mwambusi admitted that the defeat is a painful outcome for them as it has gone contrary to their initial game plan of winning the game or settling for a draw.

“I think it was a goalkeeping mistake which contributed to the loss as we are still struggling to find the winning formula but the league marathon is far from over and we will go back to the training ground to sort out scoring problems,” he noted.

The Mbarali based outfits continue to be rooted at the base of the table with 5 points from ten games which is a poor run hence they need to seek remedy to contain the unconvincing form.