The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Suleiman Jongo
30 June 2011
Zanzibar Ocean View head coach Abdulatif Abbas yesterday blasted the referee as his decisions cost his side during the 1-0 defeat against Simba.
“I was happy with the spirit of my side on Wednesday, but poor standard of decision making by the referee affected us adversely,” Abbas said.The match officiated by Sylvester Kirwa of Kenya saw Ocean View’s bright start to the Kagame Castle Cup come to a halt.
However, they still lead Group A with six points, two adrift of their closest challengers, Vital’O and Simba.
The Egyptian coach advised the referees to change their mindset and stop officiating in favour of giant clubs.
“I know even top international referees make some errors, but not silly ones. This kind of officiating won’t help our soccer development,” he said.Abbas stressed: “We lost to Simba, but it’s not the end, the race is still on. We played very well and I am confident of qualifying for the next stage.”Ocean View had a host of chances, but strikers Sabri Mzee and Said Rashid were not sharp enough to punish Simba.
The win gave Simba a sigh of relief after getting their campaign off to a low note on Saturday when Vital’O forced them to a barren draw.Ocean View kept Simba under pressure for most of the second half and, backed by Yanga supporters, the Ocean boys almost upset the form-book with their last-minute relentless pressure.
Simba missed a penalty in the eighth minute when villain-turned-hero Amir Muftar shot weakly into the waiting hands of Ocean View’s goalkeeper.But 14 minutes later, Muftar turned the game round when he volleyed home the match decider.
Simba created more openings in the first half, but were unable to break easily the resilient Ocean Boys who had a strong backing from Yanga.The win restored Simba back into the race.The six-time champions will swing back into action today when they face Etincelles of Rwanda.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Continued here:
Tanzania: Ocean View Coach Bemoans ‘Poor Refereeing’ After Bowing to Simba