Singida Black Stars edge KMC

DAR ES SALAAM: SINGIDA Black Stars made a strong start to their Mainland Premier League campaign with a narrow but well-earned 1-0 victory over Kinondoni Municipal Council (KMC) at the KMC Complex in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

The decisive moment came in the 36th minute, following a well-worked short corner routine.

Lamine Jarjou initiated the move, playing it short to Idrissa Diomande, who delivered a clever pass to Horso Muaku just outside the box.

Muaku crossed into the area, where Anthony Trabi latched onto the delivery and fired a close-range thunderbolt into the net, giving the visitors the lead.

It marked Singida’s first league win of the season and capped off a strong week for the team, following their 1-0 CAF Confederation Cup win over Rwandan side Rayon Sports over the weekend.

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For KMC, it was a disappointing result after a promising start to the season, having beaten Dodoma Jiji in their opener at the same venue last week.

The match was a tense and closely contested affair, with both sides creating limited but dangerous opportunities.

After falling behind, KMC nearly equalised in the 44th minute, when Juma Sangwe broke forward on a counter-attack and found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Hamis Omary, only to drag his low shot wide of the post.

In the 56th minute, KMC came close again through a setpiece.

Redemtus Mussa delivered a precise free-kick into the box, where Sangwe rose highest to meet it with a header, but his effort again missed the target.

Singida almost doubled their lead when Khalid Aucho unleashed a powerful low strike from distance, but KMC’s goalkeeper reacted well to keep it out.

As part of the celebrations, Government Spokesperson and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Gerson Msigwa, visited the Singida Black Stars team and hand over their continental victory award.

He presented a 5m/- cash reward, a portion of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s performance-based incentive, which grants 5m/- for each goal scored by Tanzanian representatives in international competitions.

Msigwa commended the team’s efforts and encouraged them to maintain their strong representation of the nation in the upcoming return leg against Rayon Sports and future regional competitions.

Singida Black Stars will now aim to build on their promising start as they balance domestic league duties with their continental ambitions.