KAMPALA. Kampala Hockey Club (KHC) Stallions beat archrivals Wananchi 2-1 to win the three-day Easter Tournament that climaxed Sunday at Lugogo Hockey Grounds.
The Stallions won 1-0 when the two sides locked horns on Saturday in a pulsating pool game. However, the match was undermined by a brawl between umpire Kenneth Tamale and KHC midfielder Timothy Ntumba.
The final was largely peaceful but lively. Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP) Samuel Webo, finished off a brilliant pass from cousin Bramwel Lijoodi, midway through the second half, to cancel Wananchi captain Derrick Akuwa’s early goal.
Wananchi struggled to cope with KHC’s possessive game after the equalizer and the pressure eventually told when Dulf Musoke scored the winner, seven minutes from time to send the stadium wild.
“For us it is mission accomplished. We came all the way from Kenya to win this trophy and we did it in style,” Lijoodi, who led Kenyan side Mutali Warriors to league glory last year, said. Like Webo, who helped Mvita Stars beat KHC in the Phoenix Tournament in 2014, Lijoodi had hitherto taken a sabbatical from the game to coach in schools but happy to join KHC under the stewardship of coach Bernard Bwire. For Wanachi, it was double jeopardy as Kenyan side USIU (United States International University) Spartans, led by MVP Rachael Wangui, beat the reigning Uganda league 3-0 in the ladies’ final.
“It could have been worse if we played them for 70 rather than 50 minutes,” Spartans coach James Mwangi said of the score-line.
“Wananchi are good at passing the ball but they don’t have players who can step up and kill off games.”
mmuziransa@ug.nationmedia.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment