Wanderers Facebook Page Team Wanderers poses for a photo before a game in EntebbeThe race for the Division 2 championship was between three teams. Eventual champions Premier, runners up Strikers and ACC who missed out by just a point.
The three pulled away from the others and even Wanderers that finished in 4th wasn’t anywhere near the 3rd team ACC.
ACC were the greatest loser as they were in prime position to finish as champions but they lost to Tornado a game they should have won and then Jinja SSS was a no show for their last game.
This was the best chance for ACC to make the grade and must have been painful for them with Premier and Strikers gaining promotion.
Premier had the momentum when the season started winning most of their games in the first round but they lost momentum when they had their game in Jinja washed out, and then a few losses to Strikers and Wanderers left their promotion to chance.
However, due to winning many first round games they had won enough to gain promotion. They were successful thanks largely to their left arm bowler Prakash Sha who was destroyer in chief when they dismissed Wanderers for 32 all out in Entebbe and also dismissed Tornado for 27 all out in Buddo.
Strikers was one of the most talented teams in Division 2 with lots of U19 players on the team, the likes of Derrick Bakunzi, Rogers Olipa, Perry Wazombe, Simon Oketcho and team captain Frank Akankwasa. They clobbered Wanderers for a record 396 runs in Buddo and were nicked ACC to the last promotion place by just one point. They will be a serious force to reckon with in Division 1 and with the additions they want to make to the team, they should stay in Division 1.
ACC finished in a heartbreaking 3rd place after being in the front seat with 3 games to go. Strikers and Premier were at the mercy of ACC after they both dropped points in the run up to the end.
However, ACC only managed to win one of their last 3 games, with the loss to Tornado hurting them the most. Jinja SSS never showed up after their fellow relegation rivals Tornado defeated ACC to make certain their place in Division 2. Richard Lwamafa and his troops will have to wait another season for the holy grail but they picked 2 individual awards with Emmanuel Odeng the highest wicket taker and Yusuf Nanga the best wicket keeper.
Wanderers was a distant fourth and a only strong second round saved them from being embroiled in the relegation battle. Wanderers had only won twice in the 1st round putting them out of the title run in but a strong second round where they won 3 games helped them finish in a respectable 4th place. If they are to do better next year they will need to find at least 2 consistent batsmen to add to the current crop.
SKLPS was in 5th place a team most people gave no chance of doing well in Division 2. They had a good 1st round which was enough to help them stay in Division 2.
Tornado was a distant 6th barely surviving the drop, they got their act together in their last 2 games defeating Wanderers and ACC in the must win games.
Tornado who dropped down to Division 2 with Wanderers this year found the going very tough in Div 3 only managing to win 3 games the whole season. The loss to Jinja SSS in a six pointer nearly got them relegated but they were able to regroup defeating Wanderers and ACC in their last 2 games which was enough for them to stay up.
The school boys of Jinja SSS were cut off after finishing 7th, they failed to make use of their home and the only points they got this season were off Tornado and a rain affected draw with eventual champions Premier. They will get another shot at Division 2 if they can win Div 3 next season.
ACC, Wanderers, SKLPS, Tornado will be joined by Division 3 Champions Kampala Pirates and Partidar and Nile who dropped down from Division 1.
