Mubiru contented as Kaddu leads Cranes into final Chan qualifier

A good job done. Cranes striker Patrick Kaddu(2ndR) and his teammates celebrate Kaddu’s hatrick against Somalia. PHOTO BY Eddie Chicco.

In the end, the breathtaking kind of football the capacity crowd at the StarTimes Stadium in Lugogo had anticipated did not exactly materialize.
But the Cranes were still too good for their Somali opponents as they eased into the Chan 2020 final qualification round with a 4-1 second leg win on Saturday.
The result sealed a 7-2 aggregate score to set up a game against Burundi or South Sudan who also played at Lugogo in the return leg yesterday of the tournament that features players who play in their respective countries’ domestic leagues.
“It’s very good result. We have qualified to the next round. But as a coach unless it’s a final but normally after winning a game you of course have to think about the next engagement and how you are going to encounter it. So we are celebrating today’s victory but of course we are not overwhelmed by what happened today,” coach Abdallah Mubiru said of the Saturday result.
Striker Patrick Kaddu was the star of the show scoring a hattrick that included two penalties when he was brought down after chest-controlling an Allan Okello cross in the box.
He then converted his second when Allan Kayiwa was fouled after a smart turn in the opposition box before completing his hattrick with a customary header from a Mustafa Kizza corner kick early in the second half.
“I’m not disappointed. A goal is a goal. All that we wanted were goals. We didn’t categorize the type of goals we wanted to score. I’m happy we managed to create the chances and managed to score four goals. I think we can build from there,” added Mubiru.
Allan Kyambadde got the other goal of the day after exchanging passes with Okello following a fast break in what was one of the few occasions the home team played with the speed incision associated with Mubiru’s team.
“It is something that cannot come within a few days. You continue working towards it. But at the same time after players scoring one or two goals there was lack of hunger probably that prevented them from going on an all-out attack,” Mubiru further explained.