Kampala Hockey Club Stallions beat defending champions Wananchi 3-2 on Sunday to hand their coach Bernard Bwire his first league victory against the record league champions.
A match expected to be a closely contested affair, it was Wananchi who enjoyed the ride in the first 10 minutes. While they took their feet off the pedal in the minutes that followed, they, through Patrick Yoacel in the 17th minutes took the lead nonetheless.
However, went on the back foot again and allowed their opponents to regain composure. Bwire’s charges ran riot and before the first half whistle was blown, the Stallions were leading 2-1. Ashraf Tumwesigye equalized in the 23rd minute, before making it two for himself and for his side four minutes to the break.
The second half witnessed KHC pick up from where they had left as they dominated possession for over 15 minutes, but it didn’t pay off. Instead Wananchi got the goal. The side needed only six minutes of constant attacks to find the equalizer through last season’s top scorer Thomas Opio in the 56th minutes and from that moment, made life hard for their opponents.
KHC having failed to beat Wananchi since 2015 and having lost twice to them last season were happy to sit back. Wananchi searching for their first win of the campaign did the pressing, but it was the Stallions who stole the three points as they hit the record league winners on a counter attack, with Benjamin Mkapa netting the winning goal to take his tally to four making him the leading goal-getter.
It was a day of delight for Bwire who watched his men make a powerful statement about their title ambitions. Having already beaten Simba and another title rival Weatherhead, Bwire’s charges made it three wins in three and maintain their status atop.
With Weatherhead’s game against Rockets postponed, KHC increased the gap at the top of the table to six points. They sit top of the table with 9points.
Wananchi meanwhile remain second last.
