Sserunkuma working to replicate Gor Mahia success with Vipers SC

KAMPALA. 

Midway the second half of the game between hosts URA and Vipers at Namboole mid-March and Daniel Sserunkuma, a striker, is replaced with Halid Lwaliwa – a defender.
Lwaliwa was returning from a lengthy injury lay-off.
Vipers were desperate for points in quest for their third league title as the race between the Kitende-based side, reigning champions KCCA and table leaders SC Villa heats up with 10, 12 and nine matches left respectively.
The visitors were leading 1-0 thanks to Erisa Ssekisambu’s penalty and Vipers coach Miguel da Costa and deputy Edward Golola were anxious to shut out URA, who were frantic in search of an equaliser. So they thought it wise to sacrifice Sserunkuma for Lwaliwa in the last quarter of the game. Sserunkuma turned and looked at the board hoisted by the fourth official, shook his head disapprovingly and trudged off.
True to Vipers coaches reading of the game, the whistle man soon blew the final whistle for the Venoms to claim maximum points.
They are now only four points behind leaders Villa’s 43 points with a game in hand. But it is the reaction in the Vipers technical area that attracted onlookers’ attention. Coach Da Costa opened his arms and Sserunkuma fell in, the two embracing for some good seconds before knocking fists in triumph.
“He explained to me why I was substituted,” narrates Sserunkuma, “And I understood.

That call
“We badly wanted these three points and the coaches thought we needed to be more solid in the final minutes and at the end of the game. They were right,” he explained.
When the first phone call from Vipers came through - it came from the club president and former Fufa boss Lawrence Mulindwa - Sserunkuma was concentrating on helping Express fight relegation.
The player’s six-month contract with Express had run down but coach Shafiq Bisaso was offering him an extension up to the end of the season.But Mulindwa’s call was too hard to turn down. “We first chatted as friends, him reminding me of my school football at Old Kampala SS.
“Then he told me that the coaches led by Da Costa and the technical director coach Eddie Butindo wanted me to join them.”
Sserunkuma’s relationship with Butindo dates back to Friends of Football (Fof) days, and just like a huge chunk of Ugandan footballers, the forward passed through the veteran soccer teacher and educationalist’s hands.
“So it was an easy decision for me. After meeting with Vipers, I briefed my agent Ken Joseph (UK) and we completed a two-year deal.”

On Express survival
At Express, Sserunkuma, had fallen from grace at Gor Mahia in Kenya - where he was a cult hero -, to a restless nomad with brief stops in Tanzania, Armenia, Morocco and back to Kenya before landing at Wankulukuku to try rediscover self.
“But most importantly I wanted to help the team because that is what coach Shafiq told me when he brought me in.”
However, it was a struggled first half of the season for Express, where the Red Eagles scored only eight goals.
True to why he was brought it, Ssserunkuma scored six of those, which told the club’s dangerous dependence on the player. So Express had to make drastic beefing of the squad mid-season to deal with the striker’s departure.
Six players including Ayub Kisalita, who has scored twice in Express’ last two matches, and Tony Kyamera among others have since joined the club, seeing the Red Eagles score seven goals in the last two games. This has seen Express fight from bottom to third from down on the log with 19 points.
“I think they will survive relegation,” assures Sserunkuma, “They made good recruits and have scored many goals so far in the last two games.” Sserunkuma has also since his move to Vipers in January scored another four league goals to stake claim on the goal-scoring charts with 10 overall.
Title ultimate target
But what is more important to him, he says, is helping Vipers and himself to titles.
“I have been welcomed well by coaches and players and we are all clear on what we want to achieve.
“Currently we are doing well and if we maintain this and continue working hard, we have a big chance at the title.
“I had very good times at Gor Mahia where I won titles with the team and individual honours. It would be nice to do the same with Vipers.”
Sserunkuma won five titles in all competitions with Gor Mahia between 2011 and 2014, including Kenya Player of the Year 2012 and league’s top scorer boot - two years later.
He is now leading the race for the UPL Golden Boot this campaign.
“The first concern though is to help the team. If we can win the title, I’ll be happy. If I don’t score but help Ssekisambu and Karisa (Milton) score and we win, I’m happy with that.”
Sserunkuma appreciates that SC Villa and KCCA stand in Vipers way to only their third league title.
“Villa are doing well and have a big squad,” admits Sserunkuma, “KCCA has a lot of experience from the continent and having been champions for the last two years.
“At the moment, every game is very important for us. We can’t afford to drop any more points.” The same is not far from truth for Villa and KCCA.

SSERUNKUMA’S ROLL OF HONOURS

Gor Mahia: 2 KPL titles, Kenya Challenge Cup, Super Cup, KPL Top 8 Cup
2015: Tanzania Premier League with Simba
2016: Kenya Super Cup with Bandari
Individual Honours
2011: New Player of the year in Kenya Premier League
2012: Player of the year in KPL
2013: Uspa Male Footballer of the Year
2014: Top scorer in KPL
Football story
• His father, a former footballer, inspired him but it is youth coach Eddie Butindo who taught him to play football. “I was playing in the midfield but I was scoring, so while in England (on one of the several tours with FOF/KKL), he put me in striking and it has never changed.”
YOUTH Career
Friends of Football (FOF)/KKL, Old Kampala SS (Also Copa )
Former clubs
Express, Victors, City Stars, Gor Mahia, Simba, Ulisses (Armenia), Bandari, IR Tanger (Morocco), Express Now: Vipers