Africa-Press – Uganda. We could have a champion on Tuesday. Yes, Bul can win the StarTimes Uganda Premier League for the first time in what could be one of biggest fairytales ever.
To do so, Bul have to beat Mbarara City for the first time in five attempts and then hope other results go their way.
Victory away at Kakyeka Stadium would take the Jinja-based side from 52 to 55 points.
Defeats for Kitara (51), SC Villa (51) and Vipers (50) would end the title race on the penultimate day. Saturday’s final games would only be a crowning moment.
In addition, if Vipers do not win at Busoga United, the curtains would also fall on their two-year reign as league champions.
Anyway, let’s not get ahead of ourselves as there is still a lot of football to be played for everyone with designs on the trophy.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over Gaddafi thanks to a late Lawrence Tezikya goal put Bul in pole position but Mbarara have often been an even harder nut to crack.
Road journeys
The quick turnaround that has seen Bul travel a 341.8km distance from Njeru to Mbarara in a time of nearly seven hours will also be a test.
Of the four teams in the title race, they have travelled the longest followed by Kitara whose journey to Kavumba to face Solitilo Bright Stars comes second.
The Royals, armed with the Kabalega spirit, have taken four hours on the road to navigate 206.1km.
It’s important to note that none of these teams has travelled on matchday in order to accord players sufficient recovery time over the past two days.
Vipers will take less than two hours to get to Njeru while Villa’s home tie at Wankulukuku to URA is within cycling distance for everyone.
On the pitch, breaking down the ethos of their Mbarara City coach Wasswa Bbosa will be critical for Bul.
The Ankole Lions, 12th in the standings on 31 points, are among the best seven defences in the division.
They have also won three and drawn two of the past five head to head games at home.
“Mbarara play a defensive game but we will attack them at all costs and get goals, James Magala, the Bul assistant coach, warned.
“They will be shocked by the game plan we are going to unleash.”
Goals
Forwards Tezikya, Regan Kalyowa and Alex Kitata need their scoring boots polished, something that cannot be a worry for their pursuers Kitara.
Only KCCA with 49 goals have outscored Kitara who have found the back of the net on 43 occasions.
Coach Brian Ssenyondo will have been mightily impressed by the come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Busoga at the weekend.
But while Busoga offered little in attack after taking a 2-0 lead, Bright Stars, 10th on 32 points, are a different proposition.
This could be the the moment when Kitara’s top scorer Denis Omedi closes the gap on league leader Muhammad Shaban.
Omedi has 13 goals, three less than Shaban of KCCA, whose fairly average season winds up with games against Wakiso Giants and Maroons.
The onus is on KCCA’s archrivals Villa to overcome bogey side URA to ensure that their push for a first crown in 20 years stretches to the weekend.
The mood of forwards Jonah Patrick Kakande and Umar Lutalo plus midfielder Ronald Ssekiganda is critical.
Kakande scored a beauty in the 2-0 win over UPDF and his ingenuity is needed against the Tax Collectors who denied Villa on the final day last season.
Villa coach Dusan Stojanovic, in his first season, will now know that his side have not beaten URA in six years.
Elsewhere, Vipers must win relegation-threatened Busoga United and then pray that other teams fail.
The relegation is also far from sorted. Any two Busoga (25 points), Gaddafi (22) and UPDF (21) will be relegated to the BetPawa Fufa Big League.
We will have all the answers in the title race and relegation either Tuesday or Saturday. When do you want those answers?
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