It was already tall order for KCCA, then came rain

Gods seemed to have conspired against KCCA the moment they allowed to take in three in Congo. Both played in the rain, but it hugely played in favour of the guests, who were never in a hurry, and every minute that ticked away for KCCA was a thanksgiving session for Otoho. Photo John Batanudde

KAMPALA. The downpour in Kampala last evening, specifically at StarTimes Stadium, Lugogo cast a big shadow on KCCA’s hopes.
This was a storm that seemed to be trailing the Ugandans from Congo a week ago.
In the end, it finished them off despite KCCA beating Congo’s AS Otoho 2-0, the visitors’ first leg victory giving them a one-goal advantage to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Chasing three goals was already an uphill task for Mike Mutebi’s men, but with conducive conditions, you couldn’t put it past KCCA.
But with the clouds gathering and finally releasing rain that lasted the entire first half, no tactical plan was going to be followed here, hence bringing the chase down to only hope.

It was so bad that only the meteorological department would have offered a better first analysis. But from us here at Lugogo, the first half hardly had match analysis. Hack it forward and hope it does not stall in water or bounce in front of your goalkeeper and skid in; that seemed the default plan. And hope.
Hundreds of fans, some under umbrellas and others braving it head on, endured the rain, so did the two sets of managers as the bench players pushed themselves further under the technical shelter.
The main highlight of the first period waited for the break, where KCCA deployed a bowdry to soak out the water from the area the home side were going to attack in the second half.
The groundsman was still clearing some parts when he was reminded it was time up, but 90 per cent of it was now miles better than the other end, where the opposition were attacking. The visitors protested why their area was not been cleared of water but no one cared.
The game restarted and soon KCCA took advantage of improved chances of staying on your feet as they went ahead midway the second half through Patrick Kaddu and late on Allan Okello’s penalty.
But it was always going to be this tough.