Kobs, Heathens gain more ground on Pirates
Pirates prop Ivan Kabagambe(with ball) keeps the ball from Buffaloes players. PHOTO/EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
Pirates remain in third place with 47 points. Prior to the round, the Sea Robbers were a point away from Heathens in second and two from log leaders Kobs. The gap has now grown to two and three points from Heathens and Kobs respectively.
Pirates endured a long and untidy 80 minutes of rugby against Toyota Buffaloes on a soggy Kyadondo turf in the Nile Special Rugby Premiership. It ended 21-3 for Pirates but they fell short on bagging that all important bonus point.
Two second half tries from Timothy Odongo and Eric Mulamula left Pirates looking one more to land the bonus point but Buffaloes held their own. Daniel Katerega’s penalty and two from Ivan Magomu saw the game rest at 3-6 before the tries showed up.
“A tough game and we are gutted we did not get the bonus point but we shall take the win. It keeps us in the race as we take each game as it comes,” Pirates captain Ivan Magomu told Daily Monitor.
Pirates remain in third place with 47 points. Prior to the round, the Sea Robbers were a point away from Heathens in second and two from log leaders Kobs. The gap has now grown to two and three points from Heathens and Kobs respectively.
Both Kobs and Heathens won their games against Hippos and Rhinos with bonus points. Pius Ogena improved his try tally with another hattrick as Kobs recovered from 14-10 to win 29-14 after turning on the burners in the second half. Two early Hippos converted tries only kept Kobs focused because they had expected a tough game.
“We knew Hippos were going to be difficult at home. We are used to playing on a wider pitch so we have a narrow one here. We kne the hippos wanted to deny us a point, we knew they wanted to win. We had to dig deep,” said Kobs coach Brian Makalma.
A Tonny Okello brace, a try from Joachim Chisano and another from captain of the day Akera Komakketch helped Heathens keep Kobs in sight. In Entebbe, a man of the match performance from Phillip Ondrua helped Mongers end a losing streak with a much needed 30-9 win over in form Walukuba Barbarians.
Impis completed the double over Rams in the Makerere derby with a 5-11 win, thanks to Robert Sentongo’s boot that got two vital penalties to end Impis’ four match losing streak while Rams still search for their first of the season as they sit bottom of the table.
NILE SPECIAL PREMIERSHIP
Results
Mongers 30-9 Walukuba
Rams 5-11 Impis
Hippos 14-29 Kobs
Rhinos 7-31 Heathens
Buffaloes 3-21 Pirates
