Africa-Press – Uganda. The small matter of promotion and relegation will come to the fore again on Thursday when the StarTimes Fufa Big League teams start the count into their final 270 minutes of the season.
As it stands, only three teams know their fate after Calvary relegated Northern Gateway last week to confirm their place in next season’s championship alongside Booma.
With 39 points and only nine remaining on the plate, the two are out of promotion and cannot be relegated under any permutations.
Police in trouble
At the top, Kitara with 52 points, is leading Mbarara City and Nec by a point while Police keep the chase with 47.
A positive result for the leading trio and a slip for Police against Northern Gateway at Kavumba could see the latter seal the three slots today with two games to spare.
That means to keep the hopes alive, the Cops must win their game and pray any of the top three falters. Police find themselves in this precarious situation after falling to Kaaro Karungi 1-0 in Ibanda on Sunday.
Champagne on ice
Kitara and Mbarara City host Soroti City and Adjumani, who, incidentally, follow each other with 27 and 26 points inside the relegation zone.
Both their coaches Sam Ssimbwa and Sadiq Ssempijja are brimming with confidence about their qualification chances and have now stepped up their targets from promotion to “promotion and title”.
“We are already sure that we shall qualify but what we’re thinking of is winning the trophy,” Ssimbwa was buoyant.
“We’ve come this long and played well; we want to add the title as we seal our return back to the top flight,” his Mbarara City counterpart Ssempijja also threw his hat in the ring for the final fight.
At the bottom of the table, Kataka and Kyetume, who pushed each other to the wire for the promotion slot that the latter grabbed last year, will be fighting a different battle altogether.
The two are lingering in the relegation and will hope to pick maximum points to back their survival battle against Jinja North United and Luweero United, respectively.
StarTimes Fufa Big League
Thursday fixtures – 4pm
Kyetume vs. Luweero United, Nakisunga
Kitara vs. Soroti City, Hoima
Mbarara City vs. Adjumani TC, Mbarara
Ndejje University vs. Kaaro Karungi, Arena of vision
Police vs. Northern Gateway, Kavumba
Calvary vs. Booma, Yumbe
Kataka vs. Jinja North United, Mbale City
Nec vs. Lugazi, Bugolobi Coffee
Promotion race – remaining matches
Kitara: Soroti City (H), Adjumani TC (A), Kaaro Karungi (H)
Mbarara City: Adjumani TC (H), Kaaro Karungi (A), Northern Gateway (H)
Nec: Lugazi (H), Kyetume (H), Kataka (A)
Police: Northern Gateway (H), Booma (A), Jinja North United (H)
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