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Villains become heroes to end SC Villa drought
Lwanga reminisces after missing a goal-scoring opportunity. PHOTOS/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Villa’s tally 56 points was one better than Bul and Vipers managed over the 29-game season.
Umar Lutalo swung in one of his better crosses. Charles Lwanga has never headed the ball that well.
Hakim Kiwanuka showed that he can actually finish when he latched on to Jonah Patrick Kakande’s pass to slot the ball under a helpless Benjamin Ochan.
Lwanga and Kiwanuka are an embodiment of SC Villa’s well-documented season-long wastefulness. All that will be forgotten, for now.
Their second half goals delivered a 2-0 victory and with it a first StarTimes Uganda Premier League title in two decades.
Villa’s tally of 57 points was one better than Bul and Vipers managed over the 29-game season. Kitara finished fourth on 54.
Villa took their league record haul of titles to 17, four more than KCCA who are their nearest challengers in filling a trophy cabinet. Express have seven and Vipers six.
SC Villa forward Umar Lutalo delivered the perfect cross.
Bul walloped Busoga United 3-0 in Njeru while Vipers trounced Mbaarara City 4-1 at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende to cap a thrilling league finale.
As a consequence of that, Busoga were relegated to the BetPawa Fufa Big League along with Gadaffi, beaten 3-0 at Kitara. UPDF survived after edging Wakiso Giants 1-0 away from home.
For the second successive year, the league title went down to the final day but unlike last year when Villa choked, they found a way this time.
After a poor first half, Lwanga, a villain for most of the season, headed in Umar Lutalo’s sumptuous cross on 67 minutes to ease the tension.
In the 75th minute, Kiwanuka ran on to a through to slot the ball under Nec goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan for a victory that will not be forgotten.
Serbian coach Dusan Stojanovic deserves all the plaudits for galvanizing a team that lacked experience and lost arguably their best two players at the start of the season.
The exits of Gift Fred and Charles Bbaale didn’t point to a team on an upward trajectory until Stojanovic made it the most entertaining in the league.
StarTimes Uganda Premier League
Results
Nec 0-2 SC Villa
Vipers 4-1 Mbarara City
Busoga United 0-3 Bul
Kitara 3-0 Gadaffi
Wakiso Giants 0-1 UPDF
Maroons 1-1 KCCA
URA 1-1 Bright Stars
League winners
1968/1969: Prisons (now Maroons)
1969: Prisons
1970: Coffee United
1971: Simba
1974: Express
1975: Express
1976: KCC (now KCCA)
1977: KCC
1978: Simba
1979: Uganda Commercial Bank
1980: Nile Breweries
1981: KCC
1982: SC Villa
1983: KCC
1984: SC Villa
1985: KCC
1986: SC Villa
1987: SC Villa
1988: SC Villa
1989: SC Villa
1990: SC Villa
1991: KCC
1992: SC Villa
1993: Express
1994: SC Villa
1995: Express
1996: Express
1997: KCC
1998: SC Villa
1999: SC Villa
2000: SC Villa
2001: SC Villa
2002: SC Villa
2002/2003: SC Villa
2004: SC Villa
2005: Police
2006: URA
2006/2007: URA
2007/2008: KCC
2008/2009: URA
2009/2010: Bunamwaya (now Vipers)
2010/2011: URA
2011/2012: Express
2012/2013: KCC
2013/2014: KCC
2014/2015: Vipers
2015/2016: KCCA
2016/2017: KCCA
2017/2018: Vipers
2018/2019: KCCA
2019/2020: Vipers
2020/2021: Express
2021/2022: Vipers
2022/2023: Vipers
2023/24: SC Villa
