Vipers champions

The celebrations that followed Vipers’ 4-1 victory over UPDF to win the league title at St Mary’s Stadium Kitende were epic. PHOTO BY JOHN BATANUDDE

What you need to know:

Soccer. The ruthless Venoms dispatched UPDF 4-1 to claim their third Azam Uganda Premier League title ending KCCA’s two-year uninterrupted reign. They won the title with 65 points, four more than KCCA who tallied 61.

KAMPALA. It takes a complete package to win a league championship played over a ninth-month period.
At the end of a grueling 2017/2018 Azam Uganda Premier League season, Vipers emerged as the best placed team to fit that bill, demolishing UPDF on the final day 4-1 IN Kitende to clinch a third championship. The win followed a 17-game unbeaten run conjured as most of the attention was diverted towards rivals KCCA and SC Villa.

Earlier script
A 2-1 defeat to URA on match-day 13 left Vipers eight points off then leaders SC Villa plus KCCA and fifth on the log with a tally of five wins, five draws and three losses.

Where Vipers chairman Lawrence Mulindwa was expected to sack head coach Miguel Da Costa, as had been the case with previous coaches George Nsimbe and Abdallah Mubiru, he surprised many with the addition of veteran coach Eddie Butindo. The move according to Nicholas Wadada, the captain and longest serving player at the club, turned out to be one of the turning points in their season.

“Since the technical director Eddie Butindo came to the club we have not lost and it is not a coincidence. He came after the loss to URA but he united us and showed us hierarchy,” an excited Wadada stated on Friday.
Shortly after Butindo’s arrival striker Daniel “Mzee” Sserunkuma followed.

Butindo impact
The pair like several players in the squad including coach Edward Ssali, players Yayo Lutimba, Moses Waiswa, Taddeo Lwanga, Erisa Ssekisambu, Frank Tumwesigye and Tony Odur worked with Butindo in their teenage years.
For 17 games they did not lose, drawing thrice with Sserunkuma and Milton Karisa prominent among their match winners. The sequence included wins over title rivals KCCA and SC Villa to the title their way.
“We set out to win maximum points against those two teams and once we achieved that we knew we would be in a very good position,” added Sserunkuma.

Having arrived in the second round with six goals to his name from Express, the pint-sized striker scored a further 11 to clinch the top scorer’s boot.

The final goal came in the second half with Vipers holding a two-goal advantage after a Yayo Lutimba thunderbolt and a calm Erisa Ssekismbu penalty had overturned Joseph Janjali’s goal after an Ismail Watenga howler.
“We have the best squad and if we remain focused can go on to win more titles,” opined Wadada.
They fended off KCCA in the end, a side that showed the way with the best organization on and off the pitch but who could only manage a 2-2 draw at Police to trail by four points.
Few can dispute Vipers’ current superiority.

FLASHBACK OF PREDICTIONS
How Monitor Sports Desk predicted AUPL at start of the league

Mark Namanya – Sports Editor
Vipers. They have retained most of players from last season so there is stability and the Tom Masiko acquisition can only make them better.

Innocent Ndawula – SCORE Editor
Vipers. They will seal it on the final day. What wins titles is organization in the boardroom and they have tried to work on that.

Raul Kanyike – Ennyanda Sub Editor
KCCA. Despite losing Geoffrey Sserunkuma, they still have a balanced team.

Andrew Mwanguhya – Reporter
KCCA. They have brought in players that can fill Geoffrey Sserunkuma’s void but it is time for Derrick Nsibambi to come out of his shell too.

Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo – Reporter
Vipers. I think they will gel more now that the coach is used to his players.

Elvis Senono – Reporter
Vipers. They have a balanced team and squad depth to last the distance.

Allan Darren Kyeyune – Reporter
KCCA. They have got a decent unit and are still thirsty for success.

Denis Bbosa – Reporter
Vipers. They have addressed key areas in the squad like goalkeeping and striking.

Deus Bugembe – Reporter
KCCA. They look like they have the best players and are more organized.

Abdul-Nasser Ssemugabi – Reporter
KCCA. They will be hungrier to complete a three-peat and are most organized.

Makhtum Muziransa – Reporter
KCCA. In Mike Mutebi, they have a disciplinarian capable of milking out more hunger.

Eddie Chicco – Photographer
SC Villa. The club did good business in the transfer window.