Naalya, Wananchi in Independence hockey delight
First of many. Naalya SS players hoist their trophy. PHOTO/JAMES MUGISHA
What you need to know:
Wananchi, whom they met in the final, also had 10 points from the round-robin as did Badgers whose chance to appear in a second successive Independence final was curtailed by a 1-1 draw with Stallions in the last match of the round-robin.
It was telling that the first ever hockey trophy for Naalya SS Bweyogerere came during Independence Cup held at St. Charles Lwanga SS Kasasa (Schalk), Masaka over the weekend.
They beat Kasasa’s B side 1-0, drew with the A side 0-0 and lost 1-0 to Kyadondo in the round robin before meeting the same side again in the final.
Coach Dulf Musoke’s Naalya earned a sweet 1-0 revenge to win their first piece of silverware since the sport was introduced in the school just over six years ago. Joel Kayiwa was also named most valuable player while Kasasa took consolation through Herman Arinaitwe’s top scorer (two goals) award.
Meanwhile, Kasasa won the girls’ trophy, also for the first time, with Faith Nakafeero (four goals) named top scorer and Shirat Mugisha the MVP.
Interestingly, Schalk made the club’s final after beating Kampala Hockey Club (KHC) Stallions and Wananchi 2-1 and 1-0 respectively in the round-robin on Sunday. They drew with Rockets, earned a walkover against KHC Originals and lost 1-0 to Badgers to finish the group with 10 points.
Wananchi, whom they met in the final, also had 10 points from the round-robin as did Badgers whose chance to appear in a second successive Independence final was curtailed by a 1-1 draw with Stallions in the last match of the round-robin.
Retained
Wananchi won the final, their third straight Independence trophy since the competition was switched from Lugogo to the communities in 2022, with Innocent Tumukunde named MVP. Asking Schalk to play and win in their sixth 40-minute game of the day was probably a tough dare.
Stallions’s comfort at yet another unsuccessful Independence competition also came in the top scorer award to Aaron Mutenyo (three goals).
In the women’s club competition, Wananchi, which was a combination of players from their senior team and Hockey Dreams Foundation (HDF) recovered from a 3-0 loss to Weatherhead in the round-robin to beat KHC Swans 1-0 in the final.
Top scorer Jolly Alimo (four goals) scored the lone goal against a KHC side that they had drawn 0-0 with earlier in the round-robin. Swans played with just 10 players throughout the tournament and at some point, something was bound to give.
Playing with those numbers in two matches, let alone five altogether, against the defending champions was always going to be hard. It was also the third straight time KHC was losing this final to the same team in three years.
UHA Independence Cup
Schools
Boys
Champions: Naalya SS Bweyogerere
MVP: Joel Kayiwa (Naalya)
Top Scorer: Herman Arinaitwe (Schalk) – 2 goals
Girls
Champions: St. Charles Lwanga SS Kasasa (Schalk)
MVP: Shirat Mugisha (Schalk)
Top scorer: Faith Nakafeero (Schalk) – 4 goals
Clubs
Men
Champions: Wananchi
MVP: Innocent Tumukunde (Wananchi)
Top scorer: Aaron Mutenyo (KHC Stallions) – 3 goals
Women
Champions: Wananchi/HDF
MVP: Winnie Alaro (KHC Swans)
Top scorer: Jolly Alimo (Wananchi/ HDF)
