Kitara edge Kiboga Young to reach ‘Promised Land’
Celebration Jig. Kitara players and their technical bench didn’t hold back with over-the-top celebrations in Njeru yesterday. PHOTO | JOHN BATANUDDE
Topflight league football will return to Kitara region for the first time in close to a decade after Kitara edged Kiboga Young in the Big League playoff final to clinch the third and final promotion slot to the Uganda Premier League.
Kitara won the closely contested encounter 1-0 after Brian Mululi Mayanja headed home from a corner 10 minutes after halftime.
Kitara coach Mark Twinamasiko believes the result was fully deserved for his Hoima-based side that has pursued a maiden appearance in the top division for the last decade.
“This is history, they brought me for this and I have delivered. 10 years down the road I think it was the right time for the team to qualify,” Twinamasiko said of the feat.
Both teams had chances to score in the first half but fluffed them before Kitara emerged from the halftime break worth more hunger.
“It was a good game against a good team and a good coach. I think we gave our fans the best show. Football is played in phases. You have to know what to do and what time. We were very cautious because that team scored three goals in the semifinal. They are a scoring team so we had to make sure we don’t concede carelessly,” explained Twinamasiko who previously guided Saints to promotion five years ago.
No cutting edge
Richard Makumbi, his opposite counterpart and promotion expert who has guided no less than eight teams to the top division, lamented his side’s lack of cutting edge at the Njeru Tehcnical centre devoid of fans because of Covid 19 restrictions.
“If you don’t score however much you have played well, distributed the ball a million times but as long as you haven’t scored you don’t win.
You saw the other team once they scored they started kicking the ball out. Much as we pressed them, they packed their backline and we failed to penetrate,” Makumbi stated.
Their best chance fell to Yahaya Luuti who failed to tap in from close range.
Kitara now join Myda and UPDF as the teams promoted from the Big League to the Uganda Premier League which is expected to kickoff on November 20.
