Africa-Press – Uganda. What is certain is that the winner of this year’s championship will not be any of Kitende or Kibuli. One of them will be eliminated in the semis as today’s fixture pits them together.
Kitende came through clean against tournament dark horses Mukono Kings winning 4-0 while Kibuli overpowered hosts Mvara 3-1 in a lopsided affair. Dominic Ayilla, Faisal Wabyona and Edrine Owashgiau scored for the 11-time champions.
Kitende show no mercy
Kitende earned a priceless early lead after a mix-up by Kings defenders and when they scored the second moments before the break, it was game over.
For the second game in a row, Kings finished with 10 men but head coach Shafiq Mudholo was excited with the opportunity.
“At least we made a statement. We picked many lessons but the most valuable is the fact that our players got the exposure at this level,” Mudholo said.
And he was right. Scouts were allover tournament leading scorer Ismail ‘Keita’ Ndifuna. The Senior Four student finished the tournament with nine goals.
For Kibuli, it was a walk in the park, at least. A physical Mvara SS did not provide any challenge playing on the back foot right from the start.
Head coach Stanley Okhuti Jogoo was not surprised with the performance.
“I couldn’t believe we could reach this far. We had just four days in training. It is a surprise that we reached the quarters,” Okhuti said.
Mvara, the 2014 finalists, did not even make the Arua City quarterfinals after being eliminated by Arua SS in the second round. They only played in the tournament as hosts.
Elephants tussle
With the two giants, Kibuli and Kitende meeting today in a titanic semifinal clash, the winner will be in a bullish form ahead of Friday’s final.
Both sides have ugly flaws though. Kitende plays under a lot of pressure and fail to play a flowing game yet they are solid at the back.
Kitende coach Edward Golola is confident his team will be up to the challenge although he is concerned about deputy skipper Najib Yiga’s injury and Charles Lwanga’s unconvincing form.
For Kibuli coach Recoba Emuron, he must fix a leaking defence that cannot stop conceding.
“Today we had a good performance. We are going to make it. We hope for a better performance against Kitende. We have already won by qualifying to the East African games,” Emuron said.
He hopes centre back Salim Wafula, who is injured will be back in time dor the clash but will have to deal with the absence of midfielder Patrick Ssekyanzi, who was shown red in the dying minutes for time wasting.
Results – Quarterfinals
Kitende 4-0 Mukono Kings
Kibuli 3-1 Mvara
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