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Fans return to fuel league title race
Lively again. Top, KCCA’s Hassan Jurua (left) challenges for an aerial ball with Onduparaka’s James Jarieko in Bombo on Thursday. Onduparaka fans stomped Bombo in droves, some travelling by trucks. PHOTO / JOHN BATUNUDDE
What you need to know:
- Firm vision. A chance to play in the topflight presented but Zungu’s dream had changed. He chose an early retirement and started coaching.
The last matches of the Uganda Premier League first round played throughout the last week and the delicately poised table gives just a glimpse of what to expect in the second.
URA, who walked through a sticky patch in the early stages, seem to be back on track and Vipers revving to go with power.
Action resumes today with one stranger in the race, Arua Hill, welcoming Police as Wakiso Giants host Gaddafi. The climax of matchday 16 on Wednesday will see four of the top five – KCCA, URA, Bul and Vipers – clashing in what could be a tip of what will quench fans’ thirst for live football.
No blinking
Vipers and KCCA have interchanged leadership with their closest competitors offering them the luxury of complacency but with only eight points separating the top six, there’s no time for blinking anymore.
History from the last two seasons should be a lesson enough for the contenders to do early business and cover for any unplanned eventualities later on.
They’re also expected to be consistent on both home and away duties as the fixtures are almost evenly-distributed after an uproar made the UPL to reconsider their earlier drafted fixture that looked skewed.
To boost their armoury, the Venoms made a major addition to their defence in the January window, bringing in Hillary Mukundane from Mbarara City while the Kasasiro Boys went for firepower.
URA maintained their squad as did Express though the defending champions are on the verge of losing striker Eric Kambale and captain Enoch Walusimbi.
Golden boot
Goals will surely win games and the main providers have an extra motivation to add their effort as a big prize awaits at the end of the season with the return of the UPL awards.
Bul lost striker Musa Esenu to a Rwanda outfit when he was joint-top with eight goals but before he settles down, Ceasar Manzoki has already stretched into double figures and Steven Mukwala surpassed to nine.
Mukwala’s efforts have seen him turn URA’s fortunes in the New Year and dragged them into the top five. Manzoki’s partner Yunus Sentamu is also halfway to the 16 goals that won him the golden boot last season.
KCCA are also looking for goals. The Morley Byekwaso side’s lack of consistency up-front saw them drop an eight-point lead and then nine points in their last six games but with the addition of experienced marksmen Patrick Kaddu and Erisa Sekisambu, the coach demands a better return.
“I’ve had a talk with the manager and know what he demands. I hope I do exactly that,” Sekisambu, who has won two league and three Uganda Cup titles, was quoted by the club website as saying upon his arrival.
More televised games
The much anticipated second round will be spiced up by the return of fans after a near-two-year absence. The fans return without any restrictions except to follow the standard operating Procedures set by the Ministry of Health under the presidential directives.
Those who will not make it to the stadiums now have more reason to smile as the official broadcaster entered an agreement with another television to air the games.
From the time the Chinese company took over the league at the beginning of the 2018/19 season about 257 games have been broadcasted up to date.
Of those, 75 were aired in that first season, and 70 in each of the subsequent 2019/20 and last season respectively.
Of these, 42 were aired in the first round but the number will rocket as 72 matches will be aired live translating to 60 percent.
About 18 of those by the second television channel code-named ‘TV2’.
Score has learnt that the numbers will increase as the title race enters its business end with the leading pack getting more priority.
The increase in coverage brings with it some other advantages, a major one being the easier monitoring of referees and general level of officiating that was a thorn in the first round.
Battle for survival
With all said and done, the relegation dogfight is also expected to go down the wire. Only ten points separate teams in the lower half of the table.
Since the advent of the current 16-team league format, and with the exception of the 2013/14 season and the last two seasons affected by Covid, no team has failed to hit 31 points and survived.
In some cases like 2014/15 and 15/16 season, 34 was the minimum. Well, with everyone still to have a final go at each other, there’s more to be expected.
SCHEDULED BREAKS
Feb. 21-27 Uganda Cup Round of 32
March 5-6 Fufa Drum
March 19-24 Uganda Cup Round of 16
April 1-2 Cranes Regional Tour
April 15-17 Fufa Drum
April 23-27 Uganda Cup Quarters
