Same script, different cast as Nkana eliminate KCCA

KAMPALA.

Prior to Saturday’s CAF Champions League first round return leg 2-1 loss against Nkana FC, KCCA coach George Nsimbe said his players were aware of the need to halt the side’s poor home form.

The team had lost two consecutive home games in the same continental competition. Those included 1-0 and 2-1 defeats against Merreikh in the 2009 competition as well as last month in the previous round.

Going into this game however, KCCA needed a win or a draw with fewer goals than the 2-all stalemate they secured in the first leg.

And for the opening 20 minutes, his players seemed conscious of the need to overturn that trend as they created at least three decent scoring chances and attacked with verve.

Micheal Birungi created the best of the lot after weaving through the entire opposition defence before being thwarted by the Charles Mweemba in the visiting opposition goal.

And for striker Tony Odur it is those missed opportunities early on that cost them the game.

“We paid the price for not converting those chances and Nkana grew in confidence after that,” he said in his post-match interview.
For Richard Malinga however, it was the side’s inexperience that proved costly as his side failed to hold out for a draw after Brian Majwega had leveled the scores at 1-1.

“We lost concentration a bit and allowed them too much space on the ball,” he conceded after the game.

His view was shared by the opposition coach Masautso Mwale who believes it would have been difficult for his side to get victory if they had encountered a more mature side.

“They became impatient in the second half and that allowed us to create many chances. We could have won by an even bigger margin,” he said after the game.

The loss for KCCA means that no Ugandan side has managed a home victory over Nkana in four games as they progressed to face Egypt’s Zamalek, who eliminated Angola’s Kabuscorp, in the next round.