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Hope springs as Uganda battle Zambia
Small gains. Anita Atim (R) poses with her bag and team manager Bridget Baine after being named player of the match against Namibia on Tuesday. PHOTO/COURTESY OF UHA MEDIA
What you need to know:
The teams had a rest day on Wednesday, which Uganda hoped to use “to work on a few changes in our penalty corner defence.”
Uganda’s U-22 women’s hockey team must beat Zambia today in their Junior Africa Cup encounter in Namibia to keep their hopes of battling for a Junior World Cup slot alive.
Uganda’s inaugural appearance at the tournament started with a 5-0 walkover to South Africa on Friday due to flight delays but they recovered well with a safety first approach to draw 0-0 with neighbours Kenya on Saturday.
Coach Moses Nsereko’s side, however, struggled to fend off Zimbabwe on Monday and subsequently lost 5-1 after conceding twice in nine penalty corners (PCs) and three times from open play.
On Tuesday night, Uganda consistently sought to put pressure on the ball in defensive transitions and that seemed to stop Namibia from scoring freely from open play at the Davin Trustco Astro in Windhoek. But it also meant that Uganda gave away a number of PCs and conceded from four of them to lose 4-0.
“We battled, the girls sacrificed and ensured we did not lose by five and that left a glimmer of hope,” assistant coach Martin Amr Okello, said.
“If we win the next game, we could play in the bronze medal match (against Zimbabwe again,” he added. The winner of the bronze match will join the top two South Africa and Namibia at the Junior World Cup in Chile at a yet to be communicated date later in the year.
The teams had a rest day on Wednesday, which Uganda hoped to use “to work on a few changes in our penalty corner defence.”
Against Namibia, Uganda looked a lot better in possession than they had in the previous games but they still lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.
Apart from a few penalty corners which Namibia defended without much struggle, Noeline Natabo – who scored the consolation against Zimbabwe – deflected a chance created by official player of the match Anita Atim agonizingly wide.
To make it to the top four, Uganda must get it right in both circles against Zambia on Thursday and then hope Kenya does not beat Zimbabwe later in the afternoon.
JUNIOR AFRICA CUP - WOMEN
Uganda results so far
South Africa 5-0 Uganda (walkover)
Uganda 0-0 Kenya
Uganda 1-5 Zimbabwe
Namibia 4-0 Uganda
Thursday’s Fixtures - Women
Zambia vs. Uganda, 10am
Kenya vs. Zimbabwe, 2pm
South Africa vs. Namibia, 4pm
Women’s Table
Team P W D L F A Pts
South Africa 4 4 0 0 33 0 12
Namibia 4 4 0 0 24 1 12
Zimbabwe 4 2 0 2 13 13 6
Kenya 4 0 2 2 1 8 2
Uganda 4 0 1 3 1 14 1
Zambia 4 0 1 3 3 39 1
