Rines rise out of chaotic FWSL relegation fight

BY MAKHTUM MUZIRANSA
Goalkeeper Elsie Najjemba made a timely return from an injury suffered last year to guide Rines SS past the Fufa Women Super League (FWSL) relegation monster in the last month of the season.
Najjemba damaged her knee during Crested Cranes preparations for the Cosafa Women Championship in South Africa last year but her recovery took longer than expected.
“We expected to have a good season but Najjemba’s injury made matters worse as it basically left us with no goalkeeper,” Rines coach Bright Nyanzi told Daily Monitor after their 2-2 draw away to Lady Doves in Masindi secured another season in the topflight league.
Rines were in trouble from the get-go and spent 11 of 18 match days in the bottom two places on the 10-team log.
However, many suspected they were just a team failing to perform to the sum of their parts. After all when they lost 5-0 away to Olila High School in the second game of the season, they returned to Wakiso to hold early title favourites and eventual champions She Corporate 0-0 a week later.
They finished the season with 15 points, to survive relegation by just a point, but just six of those were collected in the first half of the season with Shakira Nalule in goal. 
When the chips were down and Najjemba had returned, they went on to beat Kawempe Muslim and She Maroons then drew with UCU Lady Cardinals and Lady Doves to secure eight points in the last six games.
That collective form earned their forward and top scorer (five goals) Joanita Ainembabazi a belated call to the national team that is preparing for the June 1-11 Cecafa Women Championship.
Ikwaput saves Doves
In the Crested Cranes camp, now at Fufa Technical Centre in Njeru, Ainembabazi is rubbing shoulders with season top scorers Fazila Ikwaput and Hasifah Nassuna - both with 15 goals - among others.
Ikwaput’s goals helped 2021 champions Lady Doves go about survival business a little earlier as consolation for putting up one of the worst title defences.
For six matches, Doves did not win a match in the 2022 season. 
Such was their inconsistency that although Ikwaput came to life in the second half of the season to score more than 10 goals to defend her top scorer’s gong, Doves still managed nine points in as many games - just about the same as they collected in the first half of the season.
A draw too many?
Surprisingly, Doves and Kawempe lost as many games (eight) as the relegated Tooro Queens. But the latter drew a game too many (eight) – five of those in their first five matches of the season.
Coach Rogers Ayesiga had warned then that even though they were not losing, they “needed to quickly win games to accumulate points.” 
But his side instead managed just two wins and three more draws including the final day 0-0 stalemate with She Maroons that confirmed the ‘coup de grace’.
Meanwhile, She Maroons’ woes were brought about by their struggles in front of goal. In the first half of the season, they let in just nine goals and had a better defence than Doves (13) and Rines (16).
However, they scored just four. So although they let in 11 goals in the second half – just like Rines – and one less than Lady Doves, there was no way the Prison Wardresses would survive by scoring just three goals in the last nine games.
While Maroons conceded less (20) than third-placed Uganda Martyrs High School Lubaga (21) and sixth-placed Kawempe (23), they confirmed the old football adage that ‘while defences win you titles’ – cue the less leaky She Corporate (12) – ‘goals win you games’.

Rine SS goal scorers 

Joanita Ainembabazi     5
Yasmeen Nalukwago     2
Amina Nababi         2
Diana Nantongo     1
Yuster Kayesu         1
Betty Nakubulwa     1
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