James Bakama
2 July 2009
Kampala — KCC, motivated by Wednesday's triumph over giants TP Mazembe, resume their hunt for CECAFA glory today with an encounter with Tanzania's Prisons.
Victory will set George Nsimbe's side comfortably in control of its group at six points and within reach of the quarter finals of the two- week competition.
John Matei and Said Mtupa are the men Nsimbe will be keenly watching in Khartoum stadium.
The duo scored the two goals that had Prisons drawing with Somali side Benadir.
The Ugandan champions, winners of the annual competition in 1978, made a strong statement of intent by beating one of the best eight African clubs in Mazembe.
Tommy Okello, Anthony Bongole and Jeremaiah Ssebuyira scored a goal each as KCC floored the DRC side.
That Mazembe, who are using the competition as a CAF Champions League build-up, went into the match better prepared having acclimatised in Khartoum for ten days, seemed not to matter to KCC. KCC ran riot pinning their opponents with counter attacks.
Nsimbe's troops were only let down by a few defensive errors that had Tshizen Kanimbo and Kabanga Motola narrowing the margin.
'We were sincerely surprised by the power and capabilities of KCC," TP Mazembe Italian tactician Garzitto Diego told a post match press conference.
His counterpart on the other hand said the result was a big boost in confidence.
"After beating a strong Mazembe side, we have a bigger challenge of maintaining that tempo. That is what we are working on," noted Nsimbe.
"We went into the match knowing we were the underdogs, considering their huge history. We knew we were required to put in more if we were to get a good result. I am happy we got the three points," Nsimbe explained.
The win was also proof of KCC's strength in depth especially after the team's lead striker Brian Umony left for a professional career in South Africa.
Okello proved a good replacement for Umony with his opening goal.He now faces the Prisons side.
CECAFA Club championships
Mathare 2 Atraco 1
KCC 3 TP Mazembe 2
Prisons 2 Benadir 2
Tusker 1 El Arab 1
Miembeni 2 Inter Stars 2
Standings
Group B
P W D L F A Pts
KCC 1 1 0 0 3 2 3
Benadir 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Prisons 1 0 1 0 2 2 1
Mazembe 1 0 0 1 2 3 0
Group C
Miembeni 1 1 0 0 2 1 3
El Arab 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Tusker 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
Inter 1 0 0 1 1 2 0
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
