Dar Es Salaam — YOUNG Africans cut the gap between them and league leaders Simba to seven points at least until this evening, after thumping Mtibwa Sugar 3-1, in nail biting league match at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam today.

Boniface Ambani, Steven Bengo and Geoffrey Bonny scored goal apiece for Yanga. Masoud Ally scored as well for Mtibwa but it was meaningless ultimately.

The win not only saw Yanga holding firmly their second spot and opened an eight point gap ahead of third placed Azam FC and nine points ahead of fourth placed Mtibwa Sugar, but also saw them closely approaching their rivals Simba, at the summit of the 12-teams league.

They have now posted 36 points after wining all their five matches since the league's second round kicked off. Mtibwa were also emphatically dismissed as title contenders by the reigning champions.

However, Yanga gap of points with Simba could be short-lived as the runaway Msimbazi Street side takes on a seemingly lightweight Manyema Rangers at the same venue tomorrow.

A win will see Simba retaining their ten-point lead at the helm of the league table and possibly count three or four matches for them to win it all.

Yanga made some great display in the second half, after finding it hard to break through Mtibwa's well marshaled defense in the first half. The Morogoro lads kept Yanga fans guessing right from the kick off.

However, Ambani, who has rediscovered his goal scoring form, gave the Jangwani Street team a sigh of relief, when he hit the first goal for Yanga just 15 minutes from the kick off.

The goal came after a good exchange of passes between Steven Bengo and John Njoroge, before the former set up the scorer. Ambani showed some wonderful skills to cut in from the left. He outfoxed Chacha Marwa, took a quick turn and beat goalie Shaaban Kado with a tricky close shot.

Mtibwa retreated, and Ally cancelled the lead 15 minutes later. It all started from a well built up counter attack. Lameck Dayton latched the ball metres away from the centre circle, raced down the right side and released an inviting cross that veteran Monja Liseki laid a dummy for the scorer to blast home with a power packed shot that left goalie Obren Curcovic stunned. After the break, Yanga came strongly.

Coach Kostadin Papic had to bring in Mrisho Ngasa and Athumani Idd, after he left them on the bench in the first half. The duo's presence changed the dimension of the game as Yanga controlled the proceeding. As fans almost believing that it will end all square, match referee Mathew Akrama from Mwanza pointed at the centre to allow Bengo's controversial goal with eight minutes to go.

His shot hit the top post and bounced on the line before defenders cleared the mess. The goal came just seconds after Mtibwa's David Mwantobe saw his efforts also bouncing off the top bar, as substitute keeper Nelson Kimathi was well beaten.

Diminutive holding midfielder Geoffrey Bonny scored a wonder goal in the last minute of the game to net the third for Yanga and his first league goal this season. His 40-yard drive kissed the post and sailed through the nets, leaving keeper Shaaban Kado arms akimbo.

Papic said shortly after the match: "We had a shaky start into the game because we started a bit with a different squad. I made several changes in the starting line up because I used this match as a last test before we face FC Lupopo in the Champions League. I wanted to gauge the ability of different players now I'm in good position to decide my starting line up," said the Serbian.

Mtibwa Sugar coach Salum Mayanga blamed poor refereeing saying: "The match referee made the difference today."