Overview:
Two quick goals set the tone as champions Vipers beat Maroons 2–1 in Kitende, climbing five places as their league catch-up marathon kicks off.
Friday, November 22 – Result
Vipers SC 2-1 Maroons
Reigning Uganda Premier League champions Vipers signalled that their climb up the log is officially on after grinding out a 2–1 victory over Maroons at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende, on Saturday.
The Venoms made their intentions loud from the first whistle. Barely a minute had passed when Yunus Sentamu latched onto an Enoch Luyima pass, glided past a marker and sent in a shot that took a hefty deflection off Derrick Basoga to wrong-foot goalkeeper Simon Tamale.
Maroons were still trying to regroup when Usama Arafat doubled the advantage on eight minutes. Allowed far too much room to surge through midfield, the winger drove low past Tamale for his first goal since joining the Kitende side.
Vipers could have wrapped it up within the opening half-hour, with Tamale forced into sharp stops to deny Sentamu and Allan Okello – the latter introduced from the bench after his national team shift. Karim Watambala also squandered a promising team move with a miscued finish.
The champions, whose tight schedule this week includes Express and Villa as part of their CAF Champions League-induced backlog, will know they need to be far more ruthless than they were against the Prisons Warders.
Maroons offered a reminder of that in the second half, creating chances of their own before pulling one back on 58 minutes. Raymond Walugembe’s strike took a touch off Hillary Mukundane and fizzled past Alfred Mudekereza to set up a nervy finish.
But despite both sides wasting further opportunities, Vipers saw out the contest to jump five places into seventh on nine points from three outings. Maroons, meanwhile, remain third from bottom with five points from six matches.