Africa-Press – Uganda. Millicent Namwembe scored in the 75th minute to lead her side to a 1-0 win over Rines SS in yesterday’s finals of the Fufa Women Elite League (FWEL) at Fufa Technical Centre – Njeru.
The sides had already been promoted to the top tier Fufa Women Super League by virtue of their semi-final wins on Tuesday and She Maroons coach Alex Sidi termed the trophy as “a bonus, the iceing on the cake.”
The fast-paced striker had a quiet first half as Rines’ approach to soak pressure, in the afternoon heat, appeared to work but returned with the kind hunger we have grown to know her of in the second half.
Rines had their moments in last quarter of the first half but Joseline Iracha chose to slap the ball into the net from a 32nd minute freekick while she was also unlucky to see Maroons keeper Esther Akujo collect her improvised shot three minutes later.
After the break, Namwembe failed to connect home from Justine Najjuko’s corner in the 60th minute and then headed another corner wide off the mark in the 64th.In the 65th, her teammate Lillian Veronica Masinde, received a pass from Anitah Babirye and ran through cleanly from the right but couldn’t hit the target.
From then on, you felt the Prison Wardresses were edging closer and Namwembe duly came to the party in the 75th minute.Racing onto a long ball from her defence, Namwembe touch forced goalkeeper Elsie Nagayi to commit even when she couldn’t reach the ball. Namwembe raced on with Rines defender Hilder Nankya in pursuit but the forward connected home with her left foot to win the tie and score her sixth goal of the tournament. “This has been down to hard work and team work from the entire squad and I can only be proud of our achievements,” Namwembe said amidst celebrations from the rest of the squad.
Little success
Rines tried to engage their attacking gears but without much success or luck. Instead Masinde had another crack at it hitting the upright in the 81st minute.
Kauthara Naluyima could also have made it 2-0 when her long range effort from over 50 yard bounced just behind the Rines goalkeeper and headed over the bar in stoppage time.Fufa would later reward only Namwembe as top scorer even though Bunyaruguru striker Norah Alupo had also scored six.
Akujo will also claim she deserved a mention for best goalkeeper but the reward went to Najjemba, who also had four clean sheets from six games. Najjemba, who conceded only two goals in their entire tournament, was also heroic as she led Rines through two penalty shootouts in the quarters and semis.
FUFA WOMEN ELITE LEAGUEYESTERDAY IN NJERU – FINALS
Rines 0-1 She Maroons*Winner earns Shs8m*Runner-up Shs5mTHIRD PLACE PLAYOFFSBunyaruguru 2-1 Wakiso Hills*Bunyaruguru earn Shs3.5m*Wakiso earn Shs1.5mAwardsFair Play: Kataka SheTop scorer: Millicent Namwembe(She Maroons – 6 goals)Best goalkeeper: Elsie Najjemba (Rines – 4 clean sheets)MVP: Joan Nagayi (She Maroons)*All earned Shs500,000
