We showed Kitende a lot of respect, says Dynamic SS coach

Dynamic SS coach Paddy Kakande says his players showed a lot of respect to defending champions St Mary's SS Kitende in yesterday's 3-0 loss in a televised fixture of the Uganda Secondary Schools Sports Association (USSSA) football championship in Arua.

Kitende staggered in their title defence with a 1-1 draw on Tuesday and were intent on getting their campaign off the track against wildcard entrants Dynamic.

With head coach Edward Golola introducing aggressive forward Fazil Tumwine to complement the flair of Najib Yiga and Charles Lwanga, Kitende went up very early leading 2-0 at halftime courtesy of Lwanga and Yiga before Tumwine sealed the win late in the second half.

Kakande admitted that the respect his players offered Kitende landed them in hot soup.

"This ia the same team that won 3-0 against Lakeside Masese. The only thing that changed is that they left Kitende to have their way. We showed them too much respect," Kakande, whose attackers barely caused Kitende defenders problems, said.

Kitende now top the groups with four points as their conquerors Iki-Iki were out of action to accomodate the opening ceremony.

But Golola believes his players were more positive after the opening day blues.

"The players understood the task ahead of them and I am happy they responded. We need to be more creative now to break down any opposition that defends deep," Golola said.

The coldest day in Arua, with temperatures dropping to as low as 19°C, saw organisers hold the opening ceremony three days into the tournament.

The 66 schools in attendance held a march along the streets of Arua City before the official opening game between Mvara and Old Kampala was played.

Giants edge Ibanda in thriller

In the early games, on a wet Mvara SS ground, Frank Ogwang was the saviour as Royal Giants edged Ibanda SS 1-0. 

A well weighed cross from skipper Issa Bugembe on the left was neatly pocketed in the top corner to save the day for Giants, who are among the tournament favourites.

Coach Frank Mulindwa applauded the technical nous of his opponents as they held forte with a compact defence.

"They did their homework well. They defended hard and made our work very difficult. I am so happy we won. The winning margin does not matter," Mulindwa said.

Royal Giants are two wins out of two with a clean sheet in 120 minutes.

In other games, record champions Kibuli was unforgiving whipping Areng Siep 5-0 while Standard High Zzana edged St Benedict 1-0 in the early TV game. London College had to overcome fierce opposition Iganga Town View 2-1 while it is a rollercoaster for Mukono Kings' who fell 1-0 to Kotido SS in their second game.

Ibanda SS 0-1 Royal Giants

Kibuli 5-0 Areng Siep

Kitende 3-0 Dynamic

London College 2-1 Iganga TV

Mukono Kings 0-1 Kotido

Standard High 1-0 St Benedict