Nemostars, Sport-S resume league with eyes on prize

With the National Clubs Championship final now out of the way, all focus for both Nemostars and Sport-S is on lifting the National League title.
Sport-S got the better of Nemostars last Saturday to book the first ticket to the Africa Clubs Championship and will now be looking to deny the league champions a chance to defend the title.

The second round of the regular season starts today at the Old Kampala Arena with Warren Muhangi’s charges taking on Prisons while Nemostars face Nkumba Navy.
Sport-S captain Dickens Otim says it is time his side put the national championship title aside to focus on maintaining top spot in the league and fighting to lift their first league title in a decade.

“It’s going to be a very interesting and a tough second because some teams will be fighting for the top spot and others to be in the playoffs,” the skipper told Score ahead of today’s game.
 “Some teams want to maintain themselves in the playoffs positions while others are fighting relegation,” he added.
The table leaders only lost one game in the first round but their victory over the defending champions in the final last weekend leaves them believing they can beat them to this year’s title.

“We are getting set to face any team as we continue to improve on what we didn’t do well in the first round.”
For Nemostars, the loss last weekend hit them hard but must regroup to defend the league title.
“This moment we are at now feels like a whole new beginning. We hadn’t lost a final in a while so it was a big blow to our faces,” Nemostars captain George Aporu told this paper.
“Second round is upon us and we only have one option, to play and play harder. It’s going to be a short second round and therefore it will call for more focus and consistency from us.
“Our target, of course, remains to be in the playoffs and ultimately retain the championship.”

KCB-Nkumba ready
The women’s league defending champions KCB-Nkumba cannot afford anymore slip ups and must perform better than they did in the first round to stand any chance of retaining their title.
Head Coach Tonny Lakony revealed this week that his troops will do better to ensure they get into the playoffs and get the chance to fight for the title.
“Our first-round performance was obviously not good enough but we have worked on most of the issues we had as a team,” Lakony said.

The seven-time league winners only won two games out of six first round engagements and failed to beat any of the top challengers. 
KCB-Nkumba start their second round with a clash against Espoir.
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