FBL: Kyetume’s 2022 scars spurring Kataka’s charge for promotion

Experience, the saying goes, is the best teacher. betPawa Big League side Kataka seems to have gathered enough of it in their two-decade-long wait for topflight football and wants to use it this season.

Kataka continued to consolidate their place in the race for promotion with a hard-fought 2-1 win away to Jinja North on Sunday. That win shot them to third with 40 points the same as Lugazi and cut their gap with leaders Police who drew 1-1 with Mbale Heroes in Kavumba to four points.

Eternal battle

This is not the first time the side from Mbale has shot closer to topflight football.

Nicknamed ‘Lufumbi’ after the sharp blades used for circumcision, the Mbale City giants have suffered several cuts of their own in their quest since inception in 2000.

The team first attempted qualification in the 2008 and 2009 seasons but was pipped by Kakira and their town rivals CRO FC in the respective Eastern Super Mini-League playoffs in Busia and Kamuli.

Kakira and CRO are now defunct but Kataka reorganised and were able to beat Kamuli Park (now Wakiso Giants) in the 2015/16 Eastern Regional finals to earn promotion to the Fufa Big League. The Big League replaced the former famous mini-leagues.

The team run by businessman Latif Mafuko and his four sons strode in the division and made it to the playoffs of the truncated 2020/21 season during Covid-19 but fell short to Kitara in the semifinals.

The current nationwide league was formed in 2021 which provided the Mbale side another fighting chance by avoiding their bad omen in the tricky roulette but, again, they lost the battle on the last day in a chaotic match against Kyetume in Mbale.

Kataka lost promotion by just a mere point when they only needed to avoid a loss in the final match. They came so close but yet so far from their dream.

Kyetume meltdown

The team narrowly survived relegation by two points last season and started this campaign slowly but have picked up to rise to the green slots.

Of all the near-misses, the Kyetume loss pained the club the most but their head coach Godfrey ‘Toldo’ Awachango says that agony shaped them in more ways than one for the task ahead this season.

Awachango can view the finishing line from near with only five games to go and believes they’re experienced enough to handle the remaining games and bring joy to their fans.

“That loss against Kyetume made us strong because even when we struggled so much last season, we believed that we would survive [relegation],” Awachango told this paper.

“We now know how to handle the delicate part of the league where we have reached. We must be cautious and at our best, as we pray to God for luck,” he added.

Kataka will need to work harder and pray for that luck as well as they prepare to face Kaaro Karungi, Lugazi, Booma, Calvary and Police in their final schedule.

Profile 

Club name – Kataka

Home ground – Mbale City Stadium

Founded – 2000

Nickname - Lufumbi

Promoted to Big League – 2016

Coach – Godfrey ‘Toldo’ Awachango

Owners - Latifu Mafuko (75%), Nassur Nandala (10%), Raufu Mafuko (5%), Ismail Maluta (5%), Aziz Nambobi (5%)

Betpawa Fufa Big League 

Weekend results

Jinja North 1-2 Kataka  

Police 1-1 Mbale Heroes

Booma 3-3 Blacks Power

Lugazi 2-1 Kiyinda Boys

Kaaro Karungi 1-2 Onduparaka

Young Elephant 0-1 Kigezi Homeboyz