Leku strike preserves Red Eagles’ heritage

Alfred Leku in action. FILE PHOTO

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As the ball rolled and the club sunk, Hassan Bulwadda led a coup that booted the state minister for youth and children affairs.
Another concert was held as veteran coach George Nsimbe joined the dugout to help Shafiq Bisaso. That mattered little. Only sheer guts gave Express another life.

ENTEBBE. The setting sun was kissing the uneven Bugonga ground in Entebbe gently. Bits of Masavu’s home ground is grass and the other dusty.
Not far away, waves from Lake Victoria hit the shores moderately. Some of the rubbish the waves brought was deposited on the dry land.

The country’s oldest club Express needed to hang to their Azam Uganda Premier League status like that rubbish that wasn’t washed back into the lake. There was no tension from the scenery on Friday. The Red Eagles felt tense on the shores of Africa biggest fresh water lake.
Alfred Leku’s brilliant 59th minute strike only interrupted the anxiety. While it was loudly celebrated, the biggest noise was reserved for news from elsewhere.

Everything falling into place
Express needed to win and hope Proline and UPDF lost to stay. Everything felt into place as URA came from behind to beat Proline 2-1.
Vipers thumped 10-man UPDF 4-1 to win their third league title.
Each one of those goals scored by Vipers and URA, received on phones, was cheered like they were happening on sight.
The results meant that Express finished on 31 points, ‘comfortably’ two points clear of UPDF who went down along with Proline (28) and Masavu (26).

“Wow, this is special. We just had to do this and we did,” hero Leku said after saving a side that was formed in 1957.
Leku, on loan from Vipers, typified the calm and quality they have lacked all season when he picked a long ball, controlled it with his right foot then shot with his left into the bottom corner. It was only his third league goal of the season.
Ironically, one of those was for Onduparaka in a 2-1 away victory over Express in the first round of the season.
In a season of so many lows, this was not just a high in a game that had both sides go close on several occasions. Last year, the entry of Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi as club chairperson promised so much going by the sheer numbers at a concert held at Wankulukuku.

As the ball rolled and the club sunk, Hassan Bulwadda led a coup that booted the state minister for youth and children affairs.
Another concert was held as veteran coach George Nsimbe joined the dugout to help Shafiq Bisaso. That mattered little. Only sheer guts gave Express another life.