Topsy-turvy results rock giants

THE 11th round of the Mainland Premier League has brought its own uniqueness, following failure of the three big clubs namely Young Africans, Simba and Azam to claim crucial three points from their home venues.

It was the first time this season for all Dar es Salaam based teams to do their league assignments within the city, but the output was different from the expectations of their respective fans especially considering the fact that the giants are known to grab maximum points, while playing at home soil.

It began on Saturday at Azam’s Chamazi Complex, where champions Yanga came from a goal down to force a 1-1 draw against resilient and one-man short Tanzania Prisons, who could not give a breathing space to the Jangwani squad.

Prisons approached the game with winning mentality, though; a point was a big result for them basing on the fact that they were coming from a 1-0 loss to Simba at the Sokoine Memorial Stadium in Mbeya the previous week.

On the other hand, a 5-0 demolition of Mbeya City by Yanga at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam a week before gave confidence to the team’s fans countrywide that their side has now found the last part of the jigsaw mainly upfront, hence they again expected rain of goals over Tanzania Prison that, however, never materialised.

A day later, Yanga’s traditional rivals Simba failed to open a four-point gap on top of the premiership table after being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by league debutants Lipuli FC at Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam. The hosts took a comfortable lead through veteran midfielder, Mwinyi Kazimoto’s spectacular strike in early minutes of the battle.

However, discipline, determination and teamwork played a crucial role for the visitors as they cancelled Simba’s lead through a well taken free-kick by Asante Kwesi which left the country’s top keeper Aishi Manula stranded.

At 1-1, the game was on as Msimbazi based side did everything at their disposal to claim three points but Lipuli, which is mentored by ex-Simba midfielder Selemani Matola held on to the draw until the final whistle.

The outcome was a good result for the visitors, while to Simba, a win could have been a massive boost as far as the championship race this season is concerned.

On Monday, Azam also failed to take advantage of the giants’ slip off, after being held to a 1-1 draw by Mtibwa Sugar at their turf Chamazi Complex in the city. The Icecream makers could not get the better of the Sugar cane growers hence missing the golden chance to top the 16- team league table.

Slight changes have been made on the top five places as Simba still leads with 23 points tied with but inferior goals have dragged the latter on second place.

Yanga sit third with 21 points, while a 2-1 victory over Mbeya City at Namfua Stadium in Singida on Saturday has enabled Singida United to occupy fourth place with 20 points. Mtibwa are now fifth on the table with 18 points while Tanzania Prisons and Lipuli accommodate sixth and seventh slots after bagging 15 and 14 points respectively.

Mbao, Majimaji, Kagera Sugar, Ndanda, Mbeya City and Ruvu Shooting have all claimed 11 points from eleven matches to accommodate eighth, ninth, tenth, 11th, 12th and 13th positions accordingly.


The three relegation zone spots are currently being filled by Mwadui with nine points on 14th slot, while Njombe Mji are placed 15th on eight points. Stand United tails the log after pocketing seven points from 11 outings.