National Stadium in Dar es Salaam
The battle for supremacy in the Mainland Premier League resumes this weekend as several teams lock horns at different venues. The league was briefly put on hold to give room for the senior national soccer team, Taifa Stars, to prepare for and participate in the first leg of 2013 African Nations Cup (AFCON) Qualifiers’ preliminary round against Mozambique, held at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday this week with the two sides battling to a 1-1 draw.
Only one match was scheduled to take place on Friday, in which JKT Ruvu hosted Mwanza’s Toto African at the Azam Complex at Chamazi, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam.Three matches will be on the cards today, in which Arusha’s JKT Oljoro will host Kagera Sugar at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium while Polisi Dodoma, coached by Rashid Chama and Henry Mkanwa, will be away to Mtibwa Sugar in Turiani, Morogoro.
JKT Ruvu, which is under coach Charles Kilinda, will return to action at the same venue on Monday next week, in which the army side will play eleventh-placed Moro United, coached by Hassan Banyai, in what is expected to be a captivating duel.League leaders, Simba, will not be in action until Wednesday next week, when they host Kagera Sugar at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. The day will also see JKT Oljoro and Toto African lock horns at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium while third-placed Azam FC will meet Coastal Union at the former’s venue, Azam Complex, at Chamazi.
The Friday’s match between JKT Ruvu and Toto African was bound to provide the highlight of the weekend action considering that a win is crucial to either side’s chances to climb up the league standing and consequently ascertain their presence in the top flight next season.
Toto African, in particular, was badly in need of the three points so that it could harbour hopes of escaping the relegation trap, which has almost got hold of the club. Toto African had a promising start to their campaign in the league, in which the side went as far as enjoying the driver’s seat for a while after snatching surprise wins and draws to send shivers down the rest of the teams’ spines.
The second round of the league, though, has witnessed a rather unexpected change of fortunes for the Mwanza-based side as it suffered a series of defeats to eventually plunge to the bottom of the standing with paltry 14 points from 17 matches, having won just two, managed draw in eight and lost seven.
Toto African is among teams with the biggest number of draws in the standing, has scored 14 goals and conceded 22 to stay with a goal difference of -8. Victory over JKT Ruvu was bound to lift Toto African to the 12th position and push Villa Squad, which currently occupies the position, to the 13th position.
JKT Ruvu will equally be seeking a win to push up the standing and see to it that it finishes its campaign in a much better position after experiencing mixed fortunes in the second round. The Coast Region-based side is presently in the seventh position with 23 points from 18 matches after winning five, managing draw in eight and losing five.
The team has scored 18 goals, conceded 20 to stay with a goal difference of -2. Should JKT Ruvu beat Toto African by over three clear goals, the former will climb to the sixth position and push the currently sixth-placed Coastal Union to the seventh spot, on the basis of having better number of goals.
Source Tanzania Daily News
