{"id":51745,"date":"2023-06-30T21:45:43","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T21:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=51745"},"modified":"2023-06-30T20:52:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T20:52:46","slug":"a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","title":{"rendered":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa’s dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attempt that was sadly let down by a profligate attacking force.<\/p>\n

Whereas the Jogoos defence that was marshalled by skipper Gift Fred, Kenneth Ssemakula, Tabu Oryem, Hassan Musana and Umar Lutalo allowed in only 20 goals, the striking force managed 27 goals the entire season.<\/p>\n

That shines a light on why Gift, for his take-no-prisoners approach and being a self-starter, is now arguably one of the most sought after defenders in the country and reportedly destined for a professional stint.<\/p>\n

Lest it is forgotten, Gift, in his mid 20s, was enjoying his only second season in the topflight and is still very much a work in progress.<\/p>\n

His gangly presence in Villa’s defense has been consequential while his natural leadership always pushed his side against all odds.<\/p>\n

An Information Technology (IT) student at Bugema University, SC Villa and Uganda Cranes sturdy defender Gift has evolved into a household name almost overnight.<\/p>\n

Next Thursday at the Pilsner League awards night at Sheraton Hotel, Gift will battle Vipers’ Hillary Mukundane and Warren Buule of Soltilo Bright Stars for the best defender accolade.<\/p>\n

There is a gut feeling that he is shoo-in to bag diadem while some pundits believe he also deserved to be in the best season player category alongside teammate Charles Bbaale, Milton Kariisa (Vipers) and Simon Tamale (Maroons).<\/p>\n

With reports swirling around that his contract at SC Villa has elapsed and league winners Vipers after his signature, Gift can’t escape the limelight at the moment.<\/p>\n

Mukundane, Buule grit<\/b><\/p>\n

Vipers conceded only 13 goals from 28 matches enroute to winning their sixth diadem, and Mukundane was part and parcel of that colossal feat.<\/p>\n

With first choice defensive options Livingstone Mulondo and Murushid Juuko glued on the surgeon’s table, Mukundane stepped up to shield the goal with varying partners.<\/p>\n

Always prone to a glaring mistake, Mukundane shoked many with his consistency even when paired with rookie Rogers Torach for the later and crucial part of the season.<\/p>\n

A cold-blooded man-marker, Mukundane also excelled as a sweeper and often tried to get goals, to limited success, at the other end.<\/p>\n

Buule was strong and commanding for Asaph Mwebaze’s Bright Stars as they finished ninth on the log especially against the big boys.<\/p>\n

He wasn’t bullied and cherished duels with extrolled strikers which he won in most cases.<\/p>\n

Pilsner StarTimes Uganda Premier League awards<\/b><\/p>\n

Date: Sheraton Hotel, July 6<\/p>\n

Pilsner SUPL defender of the season<\/b><\/p>\n

Warren Buule, Soltilo Bright Stars<\/p>\n

Hillary Mukundane, Vipers<\/p>\n

Gift Fred, SC Villa<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa’s dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attempt that was sadly let down by a profligate attacking force. Whereas the Jogoos defence that was marshalled by skipper Gift Fred, Kenneth Ssemakula, Tabu Oryem, Hassan Musana and Umar Lutalo allowed in only 20 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":51744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-51745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nA solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\",\"name\":\"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to - Uganda","description":"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to","og_description":"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to","datePublished":"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to"},"wordCount":453,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Uganda","uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to","name":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-30T21:45:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Without doubt, the solidified defence was the backbone of SC Villa's dazing StarTimes Uganda Premier League title attemp ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/06\/sm_1688142062.845119.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/a-solid-gift-villa-is-fighting-to-hold-on-to#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A solid Gift Villa is fighting to hold on to"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}