THERE is definitely not a shadow of a doubt that the 2024-25 Mainland Premier League season featured an absolutely ferocious battle between those two long-time adversaries Simba and Young Africans (Yanga).

Indeed, for much of the just-ended campaign, the defending champions held a minuscule one point lead over their archrivals Simba, who were determinedly trying to regain the league trophy following the unhappy recent seasons of Young Africans’ dominance as league champions.

Impressively, neither of these two huge football clubs surrendered any advantage to the other, which just heightened the already high levels of pure excitement for the devoted aficionados of both football heavyweights.

In the end, though, the battle for league glory came down to the very last football encounter of the season, which pitted Young Africans against Simba at the majestic Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam last Wednesday.

With a sense of high excitement in the air, the consequential match, which was expected to be a bona fide battle royal between these two enormously successful football sides mid-last week provided plenty of thrills and spills.

At the end of the day, though, there was always going to be only one winner and to the utter dismay of Simba’s indisputable large fan-base, that victor turned out to be Young Africans, who emerged as 2-0 winners against Simba, whose loads of supporters were left to gnash their teeth in painful agony.

Despite this distressing setback, it should be noted that Simba has undeniably no grounds to feel ashamed or disgraced.

Indeed, the Msimbazi Street-based football outfit took some giant strides in the just-concluded season, which include advancing to the CAF Confederations Cup’s Final, where they heartbreakingly failed to win the priceless trophy by the skin of their teeth.

Indeed, it would be remiss of me not to give plentiful amounts of kudos to Young Africans, who demonstrated once again that they are superior to any other football club on the Mainland.

Therefore, the Jangwani Street-based football club should receive a well-earned slap on their back for wonderfully retaining the coveted league title.

Let us now consider national women’s football, which unquestionably appears to be in fine fettle.

The national women’s football team fondly dubbed the Twiga Stars lately claimed the CECAFA Women’s Challenge trophy with a stunning 100 percent record.

Furthermore, apart from that fabulous achievement, there is plenty to celebrate about the women’s game on the local sports scene.

For instance, the Twiga Stars are presently putting the finishing touches to their preparations for the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which is set to thrillingly kick-off in Morocco on July 5, this year.

It should be recollected that the Twiga Stars will be making their second appearance at the showpiece event with their maiden appearance at the WAFCON happening 15 years ago.

Nevertheless, despite our obvious pride over the Twiga Stars’ accomplishments, we should still not lose sight of the fact that our football-playing heroines have been drawn in an ominous Group C alongside established big guns like South Africa, Ghana and Mali.

Thus, as the Twiga Stars approach the end of their preparations for the esteemed 2024 WAFCON, it is hoped that the team will be able to overcome the strong challenge posed by their illustrious fellow Group C members.