Prime
Hockey Cranes left yearning for more in Zambezi defeat
Battle. Stewart Kavuma (R) turns Zambia's Amos Sikawe. PHOTO/JAMES MUGISHA
What you need to know:
Zambia dominated the first half when they pressed Uganda high and were rewarded with two goals in the first half through Alfred Mpanze and Kennedy Nkosi in the eighth and eighteenth minute respectively.
Uganda felt they were undone by umpiring in their 3-2 defeat to hosts Zambia in the final and decisive match of the men’s Zambezi Hockey Series in Lusaka.
Zambia dominated the first half when they pressed Uganda high and were rewarded with two goals in the first half through Alfred Mpanze and Kennedy Nkosi in the eighth and eighteenth minute respectively.
In the third quarter, Zambia retreated into a mid-block to catch Uganda on the break but the strategy allowed Uganda to build and use width. The goals came too through Jordan Achaye’s defelection from Innocent Raskara’s improvised aerial touch.
The controversial one was Emmanuel Baguma’s penalty corner equalizer. The tricky midfielder messed up his initial drag flick after Alfred Agaba’s thunderous shot into the D had been cleared with a back stick.
However, Zambia cleared the penalty corner halfheartedly, and as Uganda recovered the ball outside the circle, one of the Zambian defenders threw his mask in the way of the ball.
Uganda were awarded another PC by umpire Kenneth Tamale. His Zambian counterpart Abraham Chaya seemed not to agree with the decision and the two, despite using walkie-talkies to communicate, were visibly arguing about the decision. The crowds could not believe the sight.
That is how complicated Series can be because the umpires are from the participating countries and can sometimes be engulfed in the emotions of the moment. Eventually, the Ugandan umpire Tamale’s decision stood and Baguma equalized.
In the fourth quarter, Uganda really had to go for it as they needed a win to triumph in the Series but that left them vulnerable at the back.
There was warning in the third quarter, just before the equalizer that Uganda needed to stay guarded too, when Jordan Mpiima cleared from the goal-line.
Mpanze made no mistake when Zambia got another break in the 54th minute as his composed finish tore Ugandan hearts with six minutes to play.
“We shall meet Zambia again on a neutral ground and neutral umpires, this is not over,” coach Vincent Kasasa said while his captain Baguma chose to look inwards “it was a good tournament for us and hopefully next time we shall improve our skills and basics because this was decided in the final stages.”
