Mtibwa Sugar Squad

The tussle for the 40m/- prize package courtesy of BancABC will be between Mtibwa Sugar and Simba during the final match of the Super8 inaugural tourney at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Friday.

The Morogoro-based top flight outfit overwhelmed Pemba’s Jamhuri by a comprehensive 5-0 rout in an earlier semifinal clash played at the National Stadium yesterday.

Jamhuri were completely outplayed in the lop-sided tie.

In another semifinal played at the same venue later in the evening, Simba thumped ice cream makers Azam by 2-1 goals in a thrilling tie.

Both Simba and Azam fielded youthful players as Simba looked a highly organised outfit during the match.

Simba displayed an impressive first half show in a match sparsely attended by spectators, characteristic of midweek schedules.

Simba had a complete youthful side as contrasted to Azam that added flavour of some senior players to strengthen their side.

It was Rashid Ismail who raised Simba fans from the stands when he scored the tournament’s fastest goal two minutes after the kick off.

Simba maintained their lone goal lead up to the moment the teams headed into the dressing rooms.

Simba looked determined as they scored the second goal through a spot kick expertly taken by Edward Christopher ten minutes into the second half.

Azam never looked dead as they struggled with intricate passes to reduce the margin.

Their efforts paid off when Zahor Pazi capitalized on Simba defensive laxity to pull one back after 79 minutes of the game.

Simba played it safe to safeguard their lead and time became unfriendly for the Azam side as an equalizer looked elusive up to the end of the match.
 The tournament involved three top placed teams in both Mainland and Zanzibar premierships. A fourth team was newly promoted for both Zanzibar and Mainland to conclude an eight tem-league.

Mtibwa Sugar filled in the gap created by Yanga who opted not to feature in the championship.