Nkambi Coffee, Villa’s conquerors unmasked

Kampala. SC Villa were odds-on favourites to win the round of 32 Stanbic Uganda Cup tie against Nkambi Coffee on Wednesday in Masaka.
The record 16-time league champions instead suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against Nkambi Coffee , a team that plays in the Buganda Regional League, the third tier of Uganda’s football system.
Douglas Bamweyana’s Jogoos fell prey to strikes from strikers Gerald Kimuli and Ronald Ssempala to highligh Villa’s struggles this season.

Nkambi who?
For a team that sits mid-table on the Katonga Group log, little is known about them.
Nkambi, was founded in 2016 as Masaka Municipality Football Club (MMFC) by area Member of Parliament Mathias Mpuga with Noah Mugerwa and current SC Villa technical bench member Simon Mugerwa as the coaches. Later, the team re-branded from MMFC to Nkambi Coffee. Pioneer players were recruited from Buddu county team for example; Steven Muwawu and Samuel Ssemitego after impressing in Buganda’s Masaza Cup.
“When Masaka Local Council collapsed in 2015, I had to rally around and came up with a team because Masaka as a region is renowned as a catchment area for coffee,” said Mpuga, told Daily Monitor yesterday. Currently coached by Ronald Lukungu a former Masaka LC captain. The team plays from the notorious dusty picth at Nyendo Kasana although competition rules did not allow their huge following to enjoy that victory from their home. Organisers instead scheduled the game at Masaka Recreation Centre, which meets the required standards.

Excitement
“To me the boys played a good game but we still demand for more. Villa is not a team we used to know in early 2000’s. They were weak and we would have scored even more than two goals,” said Lukungu.
This is their second time the team has participated in Uganda Cup although their first attempt last season did not yield much as they failed to travel to Lugogo to play against Proline in the round of 32.
He adds, they are very ambitious this season and their goal is to join FUFA Big League next season. But that could be a far cry as Kajjansi United, Synergy, Kiyinda Boys and Busiro are well positioned for a place in the play-offs.