Kobs complete Cup hat-trick

Kobs also received the two-team Lions’ Cup with a score of 2-1.

Kampala
A combination of steely defence and an error-strewn finish from rivals MTN Heathens secured DMark Kobs their third straight Nile Special Uganda Cup.

Fullback Joseph Aredo, a replacement for the hamstrung Simon Wakabi, scored the winning penalty as Kobs won 14-13 at a packed Kyadondo ground on Saturday.

That effectively ended Heathens’ unbeaten home run, stretching back to the first round of the 2009 league. Back then, Kobs triumphed 20-19 in another tight contest. Forward James Kimono scored Kobs’ only try whereas the hosts replied through Asuman Mugerwa and Jonathan Onen, who played his first game after a four-week ban.

At the final whistle, the joy and disappointment was painted all over that even the blind could feel it. “This victory is entirely for the players. Our plan was never to defend,” Fred Mudoola, the Kobs coach, spotting an eye-catching blue blazer, said. Chasing their hat-trick, Kobs took the game to the opposition from kick-off. However, it was Onen who had the first chance only to miss a penalty on two minutes.

Heathens’ poor kicking is no longer a fever. It’s a cancer. In the 13th minute, James, the elder brother of wing Justin Kimono, perhaps the best young prospect to emerge in years, put the finishing touches to a brilliant team try. Celebrations in the stands were cut short not only because Edmond Tumusiime missed the ensuing conversion. Prop Mugerwa leveled the tie with a try under the posts in the 16th. Quite predictably, Onen missed the conversion.

For most of the first half, Kobs were firmly on top. They easily swept the scrum as the absence of brothers, Romano Ogwal and Denis Mulo, both locks whose late father was buried on Saturday, told. Even if Tumusiime nailed a penalty for an 8-5 halftime, Kobs knew the gap should have been bigger at the 40-minute mark despite Steven Ogwete being sent to the sin-bin. “It was harder than we thought,” Kobs skipper Brian Odong, a prop, said. His worst fears were confirmed as man-of-match Onen touched down six minutes into the second half.

See-saw game
Ronnie Musoke joined the Heathens’ missing queue. It then became a see-saw game of kicking with the sequence including Aredo, Onen, Tumusiime (miss) and Aredo.
The scoring was finished with 12 minutes to time. Thereafter, Heathens pinned Kobs inside their 22 only for the defence to hold firm.

A string of knock-ons under fading light helped Kobs’ cause for a sixth Cup greatly. “We are very disappointed because we really wanted to win this for the Romano brothers,” Heathens coach Brian Tabaruka said. Adding: “We lacked maturity. There was too much pressure and we were timid in offense.”
The absence of hooker Alex Mubiru and flanker Mathias Ochwo (injured), both veterans, was really felt.

It hardly mattered that Kobs also received the two-team Lions’ Cup with a score of 2-1 before lifting the Holy Grail. They didn’t consider the aggregate score as earlier planned and instead went for number of games won in a calendar year. Kobs won the first league encounter 13-11 and lost the second 22-10.

ikigongo@ug.nationmedia.com