Captain Aggrey Morris scored the lone goal to help the Ice-cream Makers qualify to the last four.
Azam FC have sealed their place in the semi-final of the Mapinduzi Cup after labouring to a 1-0 win over Malindi FC at the Amani Stadium on Sunday night.
Captain Aggrey Morris scored the lone goal to help the Ice-cream Makers qualify to the last four.
The 2014 Tanzania Mainland League champions had collected a point from their Group C game against Mlandege after settling for a 1-1 draw. On their part, Malindi managed a goalless draw with the latter as well.
With Mlandege leading the group with two points, it meant Sunday’s winner would automatically qualify for the semi-final.
The Tanzanian heavyweights thought they scored in the second minute when Iddi Selemani tapped the ball on target, but the officials were not moved as they felt the ball did not cross the line while the replays suggested otherwise.
From that point onwards, both teams played cautiously to avoid conceding since it would have lowered their chances of making it to the next phase of the competition.
Seemingly, the match was headed for a goalless draw but Azam FC managed to get a penalty in the 60th minute.
Selemani managed to get into the danger zone, and in his bid to cross the ball to the teammate, it hit the hand of a defender and referee Nasri Salim had no option but to hand the 2018/19 FA Cup champions a penalty.
From the spot-kick, Morris managed to keep his cool to send Sheikh Abdalla the wrong way.
It happened to be the winning goal, and the Ice-cream Makers are now safely into the semi-finals.
Earlier, defending champions Mtibwa Sugar were eliminated from the competition by Wekundu wa Msimbazi after falling 2-0 on Saturday night.
The Selemani Matola-led charges scored their goals through Dilunga and Miraji Athumani.
In the sixth minute, Sugar Millers’ goalkeeper failed to keep out a good cross from the left and Hassan Dilunga headed the ball into an empty net to give his team a deserved advantage.
Wekundu wa Msimbazi doubled their advantage in the 37th minute owing to poor defending.
Kenya international Francis Kahata managed to pick out Chris Mugalu, whose poor touch gave the defenders a chance to clear it.
However, the defence failed to take their chance and the striker reclaimed the ball and Athumani converted from close range to double the advantage.
Azam will now play Yanga SC in the semi-final while Simba will play Namungo.
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