Prime
Hockey She Cranes earn Zambezi advantage
Feisty match. Alfred Agaba finds space to push forward against Zambia. PHOTO/JAMES MUGISHA
What you need to know:
Harriet Mtawibo pulled Zambia closer with a second at the start of the fourth quarter but Uganda’s counter attacking approach worked with Balondemu collecting another pass from Alum to mae it 4-2.
Uganda’s women hockey team took control of the Zambezi Series in Lusaka, Zambia after beating the hosts 4-2 on Saturday morning.
Coach Moses Nsereko did not make any changes to side that drew 2-2 with the hosts on Friday but went with the second half approach of that game by starting Winnie Alaro in defence and her sister plus captain Norah Alum in midfield.
Zambia, howeber, started well with Martha Kalomo scoring from a penalty corner in the second minute, to bag her fifth goal against Uganda in three meetings.
The goal awakened the fight in Uganda and within 12 minutes, Hilda Star Balondemu had equalized after collecting a long ball from Alum.
In the 25th minute, Winnie Atim gave Uganda the lead with her second goal of the tournament from a penalty corner won by Anitah Atim. Anitah’s injection was taken straight by Alum but Zambian keeper Priscilla Chipospole punched the ball back into Anitah's path. The midfielder retained the composure to find Winnie Atim at the far post and the latter made no mistake.
The pressure was getting to Uganda so much that their coach Nsereko was sent off. The technical officer Daniel Kyaligonza wanted only one of Nsereko and his assistant Martin Okello to stand in the area. Nsereko opted to stand behind the bench but that did not sit well with the officer, who then asked umpire Jackson Njovu to send off the Ugandan coach.
“We found that it is allowed for two people to stand and hopefully the red card was cancelled. But I want to thank the girls because this was a very tough game,” Okello said.
Alum, Balondemu combination
But Uganda still kept their fighting armour on. At the end of the third quarter, Alum combined with her sister Lucky Akello in another penalty corner for the latter to make it 3-1.
Harriet Mtawibo pulled Zambia closer with a second at the start of the fourth quarter but Uganda’s counter attacking approach worked with Balondemu collecting another pass from Alum to mae it 4-2.
“We are very optimistic that tomorrow, we will still get the goals to win the game and the gold medals to make our country proud,” Balondemu said after her brace.
Zambia hold men
Meanwhile, the men’s side was held by Zambia in a 1-all draw in a feisty match.
Emmanuel Baguma converted a penalty corner in the 29th minute after a long spell of see-saw attacks from both sides.
But Alfred Mpande pulled Zambia level in the 38th minute.
“We hope for the best in tomorrow’s game. Today’s match was a tight one but fortunately we did not lose it,” men’s assistant captain Jordan Mpiima said.
By press time, the men were due to play Malawi in their second meeting of the Series. But they will play Zambia again on Sunday to decide who wins gold. Both sides seemed stronger than Malawi on Friday as Uganda won 6-1 while Zambia crashed them 8-1
