Villa rise to KCCA level in Njeru stalemate, Police win
Crawling Jogoos. Villa players celebrate their late equaliser against KCCA on Saturday. PHOTO | EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
- The results leaves Villa 12th with 10 points while KCCA stays top on 27 points, four ahead of second placed Vipers.
Matches between SC Villa and KCCA go beyond formbook and table positions.
The gulf in class that StarTimes Uganda Premier League leaders KCCA enjoyed pre-match was overshadowed by the fighting spirit exhibited by Petros Koukouras’ budding charges in the 1-all draw at the Fufa Technical Centre in Njeru on Saturday.
Morley Byekwaso’s side dictated play early on with forward Rogers Mato’s header hitting the woodwork before the lad later pounced on a corner kick to break the deadlock on 75 minutes.
Villa, despite having an unpleasant start to the season, fought back. Like they did in the draws with URA and Express, the Jogoos took the fight to the Kasasiro Boys.
The drama that accompanies this cross-city clash was saved for last.
Substitute Benson Muhindo, who scooped the man of the match, drew KCCA defenders John Revita and Brian Majwega in the danger zone in a battle that left referee William Oloya with little option when the Jogoo went down under pressure.
With a minute to the regulation time, Muhindo put the resultant penalty beyond Benjamin Ochan in KCCA goal.
The results leaves Villa 12th with 10 points while KCCA stays top on 27 points, four ahead of second placed Vipers.
“I was too far away from the penalty incident but will review it later. We weren’t efficient in the early stages and we’ve learnt a lesson that you must kill off derby matches. We were unfortunate not to win,” KCCA coach Morley Byekwaso said.
Koukouras decried Villa’s inability to stop conceding from set-pieces.
“We conceded from set-pieces again and that means we must continue working on our weaknesses to win matches. We wasted many chances but these are young players who shouldn’t be put under pressure,” the Greek coach told Daily Monitor.
Vipers overcame coach-less Tooro United 1-0 at St Mary’s Stadium-Kitende. Caesar Manzoki’s strike reduced the gap on KCCA at the top to four points with a game in hand.
Mawejje delight
After almost 1000 minutes of huffing and puffing, Police at long last registered their first league win of the season. They dispatched a disenchanted Busoga United team with renewed motivation from club chairman AIGP Asan Kasingye.
“When Afande Kasingye visited our Kibuli camp last week, he sorted out most of our welfare grievances and promised more monetary rewards, the boys were motivated to die a little for the club,” skipper Tony Mawejje revealed.
The Cops occupied the basement before they overcame Busoga United 3-1 at the MTN Philip Omondi Stadium on Saturday with goals from Brian Muluuli, Juma Balinya and youngster Arafat Kakonge.
The win lifted Police to 15th with six points from 11 matches ahead of their relegation dogfight with Tooro United, who have also won once this term.
“This was a spark to our season and we intend to build on that starting with Tooro United. We still miss the commanding presence of coach Abdallah Mubiru on the touchline,” the veteran midfielder, who climbed off the bench to add gusto to the team, added.
Mubiru was banned for two months by Fufa for alleged misconduct, leaving the mantle to his deputies John Luyinda and Deo Sserwadda.
