Acholi ride on voiceforus home fans to edge closer to Fufa Drum semis

It was a carnival of sorts when Acholi Province hosted Buganda Province in the first leg of the Fufa Drum tournament quarterfinals at Boom Grounds in Kitgum on Sunday.

Fans in droves thronged the stadium in anticipation of victory only to be silenced by Frank Ssebufu's opening goal on 23 minutes as he slotted home Viane Ssekajugo's cross.

Buganda, champions in 2018, dominated the first half with and should have made it 2-0 had they been more clinical. This was a mouthwatering battle between the holders Acholi and their predecessors with nothing much separating the two sides.

When Acholi's Norman Ogik levelled the score on 64 minutes, the stadium burst into a pandemonium  which rallied the team for a quick second goal by Francis Onekalit.

Buganda's attacking quartet of Ssebufu, Ssekajugo, Shafiq Kagimu and Muhammad Kagawa took the game to Acholi in pursuit of an equaliser to no vail.

Acholi coach Godfrey Akena is indebted by the man of the match performance of attacking player Fred Agandu who held forte in the midfield before Onekalit and Ogik rose off the bench to net the vital strikes.

"I want to thank my players and the many fans that stood behind our team.It is still a long way but I'm glad we didn't disappoint today," an elated Akena revealed after the match.

The mammoth supporter base, that included guests across the political divide, pushed Acholi over the line ahead of the return leg at Nakisunga Grounds in a fortnight. The Nile Special sponsored Fufa Drum tourney still has three other spicy quarterfinal ties with West Nile taking on Kampala, Bugisu hosting Lango and Teso scheduling a date with Tooro at the weekend.