Omog hails Yanga after draw

SIMBA SC Head Coach Joseph Omog has lavished praises to rivals Young Africans following their Saturday 1-1 draw at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Holders and the match’s hosts, Yanga came from behind to cancel Simba’s lead in 60th minute as Zambian marksman, Obrey Chirwa played a low-flying ball that beat goalkeeper Aishi Manula. Speaking in a post-match press briefing, Omog said the game was generally tough but he could not hide his praise on Yanga’s performance.

“Yanga is the best team in the country everyone knows about that. Whenever we face them, the match tends to be very difficult, but it is pleasing that we have shared a point with them even though our target was to win,” Omog said.

Commenting why his defence line conceded an equalising goal within a short time after Shiza Kichuya’s 57th minute lead, Omog said lack of concentration at his defence line helped his rivals to score.

“It happens in football that sometimes you get carried away and lose focus which is exactly what happened today (Saturday),” he said. In his words, Yanga Assistant Coach Shadrack Nsajigwa said getting a point from the hostile derby clash was much better than pointless.

“The game was fifty-fifty and very difficult, but at last we smiled as we got something from it. We created lots of scoring chances than our opponents but managed to score only a single goal.

As the technical bench, we are always pleased when the team is able to utilise goal scoring opportunities especially during derby games,” said the former Taifa Stars defender. It was exciting to see much footwork at the centre of the pitch where both teams spent heavily during the transfer window.

Most Simba fans at the Uhuru Stadium saw Haruna Niyonzima who switched colours from yellow to red last season as Simba’s miniature dynamo as he was able to feed striking powerhouse consisting of Emmanuel Okwi who partnered with Laudit Mavugo before the later was benched for John Bocco mid way into the last half.

Yanga, on the other hand, had Papy Tshishimbi who played his second Dar es Salaam derby match with the Jangwani giants and once again he displayed his attacking and defending ability that helped Lwandamina’s men to look alive at the midfield department.

Simba defence which was marshaled by captain Method Mwanjali in partnership with Juuko Murshid, on several occasions, succeeded to overpower Yanga’s goal searching machine Ibrahim Ajib who was never given freedom to dictate terms.

Likewise, Emmanuel Okwi had a full time eye watch from Yanga’s centre backs Kelvin Yondani and Vicent Andrew to deny the Ugandan target man from causing damages.

With the 1-1 draw, both Dar giants are glued at 16 points from eight encounters, however superior goal difference still favours the Reds who have a tricky ninth round fixture against Mbeya City on November 5 at Sokoine Stadium in Mbeya while Yanga will be entertained by league debutants Singida United at Jamhuri Stadium, Dodoma a day before.