The results were, in both instances, respectable for the local sides, as Kaizer Chiefs is a more reputed side than the Zambian league overlords. Simba SC went one better to seal up.
What was surprising was that the Jangwani Street side appears not to have been satisfied with its victory on the club's big day, and instead did what they could to spoil the broth when the other side was taking the pitch.
It was an issue of trespass where visitors who came to play with Singida Fountain Gate FC (still known as Singida Big Stars in the CAF inter-club competition schedule), the Congolese top side AS Vita Club, was set to face Yanga in a friendly but only on condition that the game is played on D-Day. After the Simba Day ticket sellout, Yanga chose to opt-out.
These visitations have shown another aspect of local football, namely that it has radically grown in stature, for instance in rankings of the continental confederation, such that being tested against either of the city giants is a pleasure and a trip well earned.
The Congolese club lent us even further credit when it directly cited Namungo FC, a one-time participant in the CAF Confederation Cup run, underlining that things have even changed with Singida Fountain Gate FC, not just in the international friendly but in the outfit's pre-season stay in Arusha. It is the mark of a capable club.
Several pundits ventured to say that Jangwani Street club leaders refused an altogether exciting game with AS Vita Club for the insufficient trust that they were going to win.
That is debatable but unless it was part of their horizon, other aspects could have been put aside, notably as during the Kaizer Chiefs encounter they used roughly two sets of players.
They hence had plenty of playing options to choose from but failed to put up a game on either Friday or Saturday ahead of an 'Estadio Lupaso' (Benjamin Mkapa Stadium) outing for their next-door rivals, Simba SC, pointlessly affixed to spoiling the big day.
This failure to hold a friendly with a visiting side as a test between the Community Shield run had plenty of ways to be interpreted, the sufficiency of the reason thereof depending on the tastes of who is listening.
To some soccer pundits, the failure to call an impromptu match with the visiting side still waiting for a flight home was inexcusable, while to their dearest sympathizers, it may just have been tactical as the point has already been made on their big day.
That was not enough reason not to show up, thus definitely skipped a date for potential embarrassment, if the visiting side could have corrected some mistakes in the club's 1-0 loss outcome when the club faced Singida Fountain Gate FC.
Refusing to play AS Vita Club even after its loss to Singida Fountain Gate FC, making inroads into the upper echelons of the premier league, and perhaps ready to shake off their presumed tutelage to Yanga, is also a mark of respect for Singida Fountain Gate FC.
It is an implicit admission that AS Vita Club could have failed to outplay Singida Fountain Gate FC but succeeded to do so against Yanga, which is not obvious but it was an option that the Jangwani Street-based club's leadership chose not to test.
It would have made the Congolese side’s visit more fruitful and the pre-season finale for city clubs altogether marvelous, for once.
Looking at the matter from a different angle, it can be demanded if Yanga has had as much of a pre-season workout at their premier league top rivals, and there the response can only be negative.
They did not move outside, similar to their next of kin, Singida Fountain Gate FC, though definitely for dissimilar reasons.
Yanga was reorganizing the club's technical bench and thus nothing massive could be sketched out with a coach who was just putting his feet on the ground at that moment.
How far this may turn out to be a problem is not being discussed much, as last year Yanga did not go out at pre-season, with a continuing bench, and won.
In case anyone would think that all the same, Yanga has not done enough with the pre-season phase of Premier League preparations, that they did not have to miss out on the AS Vita Club test opportunity, the answer would come in a banging way.
Winning over Kaizer Chiefs even in a friendly suffices to trust that the side is good, despite some tell-tale signals as when the captain failed to control an opponent and resorted to fouling him, just next to the penalty box.
Some clever AS Vita Club bench members could have noticed it, advising focusing the bulk of the attack there.
At the same time, the comfortable win that Simba posted on the big day will cover noises being made that there are few credible substitutes at the fullback line just in case of injury.
By comparison, Singida Fountain Gate FC still has someone like Joash Onyango who failed such tests and gave way to goals, as Yanga have to do all the battle in the CAF Champions League run, the risk remains. ‘Watch this space’!
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