City Oilers next as Falcons search for maiden win

No team would wish to be in Falcons’ shoes at the moment. It is only pleasant to associated with their history and not their current run of form.

Four games played; four games lost. That is how things are for the six-time champions who fell to Our Savior last Saturday at YMCA in Wandegeya.

The team continues to fire blanks and those at the top of running it must now appreciate the fact that it is not too early to start worrying about relegation.

And yet the fixture reads City Oilers next. Tough. The two sides face off in Namayiba, Mukono today afternoon as league basketball continues to stretch to areas beyond the known Lugogo Indoor Stadium and YMCA.

Namayiba is along Mukono-Katosi road and the facility is owned by JKL Dolphins. Maybe playing away from the more established venues could come with some lucky charm for Tony Oluka’s troops. Just maybe.

Bossa dilemma
On paper, it is a game that might not require the Oilers to engage second gear. They have an embarrassment of riches in terms of talent yet for Falcons, relying on just Wafula Bossa and Brian Ssentongo has proved futile thus far.

The former might not even make it for today’s game due to his academic commitments at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. That would be a big blow and head coach Oluka knows what that takes away from the team.

“I think we just need to do what is within our control. We shall try to and see what works best for us,” Oluka told Score when asked about the game.

“Unfortunately, I may not have my best player because he is sitting his exams this week.
“We have to work much harder to put up a fight.”

Oilers themselves feel like they are not in a good place and games like these are the ones they intend to use in fine tuning their machine enroute to an eighth straight championship.

“For us it is another game ahead of us and we have to respect our opponents,” Oilers’ tactician Mandy Juruni told Score.

“We are still trying to find our rhythm. We are struggling to play at a higher level so it is an opportunity for us to get better and the game is important to us,” he added.

Having lost the opening game to Namuwongo Blazers, the defending champions have since recovered with wins over, KCCA Panthers, Victoria University Sharing and UPDF Tomahawks.

Their 3-1 record has them languishing in ninth place and climbing up the table is top on the agenda for Juruni and his troops. Their opponents, Falcons, occupy the last spot on the 13-team log. 

National Basketball league 

Today | Women
Nabisunsa     vs.     Angels     10am
A1 Challenge     vs.     Nkumba     12pm
Men
City Oilers     vs.     Falcons     2pm
UCU Canons     vs.     Power     4pm
JKL     vs.     KCCA     6pm

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