Betway Kobs show early intent to retain tittle

Betway Kobs'James Ijongat releases a teammate (not-in-picture)against Warriors in the Kyadondo leg. Photo by Eddie Chicco.

KAMPALA. Betway Kobs, the double defending champions of the National Sevens Series kicked off the 2017 campaign with a clear message, “we want to take it for the third year running” as their captain Joseph Aredo had stated earlier on.  

With a convincing master class in the pool stages where they  punished Stallions 52-0, 27 before strolling past Rams and Warriors  27-10 and 29-0 respectively. The flawless record pit them against pool mates Warriors who were no match after tries from Alhadji Manano, James Ijongat and Keith Seruyange contributed to a 48-0 win to book a semi-final place.

The men in blue then came up against bitter rivals Black Pirates, whose young side had seen them earn the favourites tag, but Timothy Kisiiga’s try was not enough to sail them past Kobs who posted 17 points to five. 

A semi-final win over Pirates put Kobs a win away from emerging victors of the first of six of the legs. They would however keep their fans guessing with a below par performance against crowd favourites Toyota Buffaloes.  

An early Eric Kasiita try for Buffaloes sent shivers through the Kobs’ following as they had to wait for a limping Joseph Aredo to level matters. The 14 minutes elapsed with the final tied at 5 all, prompting sudden death. 

“We realised later on that we had to approach the game with a mature approach which worked for us,” Ivan Mugirya, a scorer in the semis told monitor.co.ug.  

With the clock running down, replacement Edgar Seruwagi touched down for Kobs in the corner to win them the leg and Shs1.5m as Thunderbirds won the women’s category after sinking Entebbe ladies 7-12 in the final. 

The series return on Saturday at Dam Waters,Jinja.