IHEFU SC’s head coach Mecky Mexime saluted his tactical approach as the team held Simba SC to a 1-1 draw in the 2023/24 NBC Premier League tie which took place at Liti Stadium in Singida last Saturday.

He was further elated with the side’s players’ resilience as they secured the results following their back-to-back losses in the NBC Premier League.

Ihefu SC lost games to Coastal Union and Yanga before the international break- a kind of result that dropped them to 10th spot in the league log.

Mexime has faced Simba SC for the second time this season. He had taken on the Msimbazi Street squad in the first round while taking charge of Kagera Sugar in Dar es Salaam and his outfit lost 3-0 and the tactician played against the same opponent while leading Ihefu SC's technical bench.

The coach revealed: "Coaching is a tough job especially when you are not on the touchline, holding Simba SC to a draw with their current form is still now easy, because they want to return to winning ways, we had to set our team in a defensive base to pick a point."

"We knew that they would come to attack us, that's how Simba SC and Yanga are, they believe in their players' prowess, and even when attacking them they will still have a lower number of players in their defense, which is contrary to us who played on our zone waiting to play on counter attacks," the former defender added.

The gaffer said his side had relief after the goal scorer for Simba SC's equalizer, Clatous Chama, went to the bench because he was disrupting his outfit's game plans and defense flow.

"We had a relief when Chama went off, he was the anchor on Simba SC's attacks, the penalty was scored by him, having threaded a pass to Kibu into the box and my player fouled him, he was so creative and gave us a homework to solve," the gaffer noted.

Defensive midfielder Kelvin Nashon returned to Ihefu SC's starting eleven after failing to get enough playing time since his arrival in January, and Mexime said he was pleased with his game whilst giving credit to the rest of the squad.

"Nashon was tasked with defending Simba SC attackers in quarters and he did his work very effectively. After Chama went off I gave him another task to do, overall my squad played well and I am happy with their efforts," the gaffer noted.

Ihefu SC forced Simba SC to a four-match winless run of form after failing to win against Al Ahly in both legs of the CAF Champions League quarterfinals, CRDB Federation Cup elimination in the Round of 16, and a league draw with Ihefu SC.

Ihefu SC’s next match will have the outfit lock horns with Singida Fountain Gate FC at Liti Stadium on Thursday. Now based in Singida, Ihefu SC holds the 10th spot in the league log with 24 points after 22 games.