Yanga bridge gap to top teams

Dar es Salaam. Defending champions, Young Africans plundered a 1-0 win over Ndanda FC at the Uhuru Stadium on Saturday.

The Jangwani Street giants, who are gunning for their fourth straight Vodacom Premier League title, climbed to the fourth slot after collecting eight points from four matches.

Yanga, who made a slow start to the season, now are level on points with their traditional giants, Simba SC.

Tanzania Prisons also have garnered eight points, but they trio are separated by goal differences. Simba and Prisons have superior goal difference.

The reigning champions had Ibrahim Ajibu to thank after the former Simba hotshot scored the lone goal in the 34th minute following good cross from the long-serving defender, Kelvin Yondani.

It was Yanga’s second victory of the new season after beating Njombe Mji 1-0 before playing out 1-1 draws against Lipuli of Iringa and Majimaji of Songea.

The George Lwandamina-coached side could have scored many goals had it not for profligacy by strikers Donald Ngoma, Obrey Chirwa and Ajibu.

The trio had many chances to register their names on the score sheet, but fluffed most of the opportunities that came their way. Ndanda also had their chances and should striker Omari Mponda and Kelvin Friday maintained their usual composure in the area, they could have scored.

Speaking after the match, Yanga assistant coach Shadrack Nsajigwa hailed his players for the victory. “We created many clear scoring chances in the match, but we could not convert most of them. We are happy with the win, but we are still building our team and hopefully the performance will be better in our next match,” he said. Yanga will swing back into action with a match against leaders Mtibwa Sugar next weekend and Nsajigwa believes that they will continue racking up points.

In other matches, Njombe Mji registered their first win against Majimaji at Majimaji Stadium. Njombe Mji scored its lone goal through Jimmy Shoji.

Prisons also extended their impressive start to the season with a 3-1 win over Mwadui FC at the Mwadui Complex in Shinyanga. Mohamed Rashid scored a brace for Prisons while Eliuta Mpepo scored the third as Abdallah Seseme scored Mwadui’s consolation.