In Brief:
To decide who between Kobs and Heathens would progress into the Uganda Cup final, the tournament manual was, yet again this year, consulted.
Kobs and Heathens in the 2022 Uganda Cup Semifinal this Saturday evening may have just played the greatest match of domestic rugby the country has ever seen.
While Heathens led by 13-06 at the break before Kobs levelled matters at sixteen-all by full-time, the two most-successful rugby clubs in the country’s history could not be separated even after a further thirty minutes of extra time.
It would stay square after one hundred and ten minutes of what both captains on the day described to Kawowo Sports as the best match they have ever been a part of.
“Sure, I’ve never played rugby for all this time. It’s my first time and I’m glad I’ve experienced it in my playing career,” ten-time winners Heathens’ captain Akera Komakech said.
Nine-time winners and defending champions Kobs’ captain Emmanuel Echodu affirmed that that has always been the script for the two clubs’ rivalry.
“Kobs-Heathens has always been decided on the wire and today was no different. It was déjà vu,” Echodu, who was named man-of-the-match, said.
Another fierce rival to both clubs Stanbic Black Pirates had defeated Rhinos by 30-08 in the other semifinal at King’s Park Stadium.
To decide who between Kobs and Heathens would progress into the final to face the Sea Robbers, the tournament manual was, yet again this year, consulted.
The tie-breaker criteria stipulate that in the event that the two teams are tied after full time and extra time, the following determinant will be cards received in the match after which a coin would be tossed to break the tie. There is no option for the match to be replayed in this case.
“We tied at 16-16, then went for extra time of thirty minutes and still tied. Then we tied on the cards (since) we each had one yellow card. The only other option was to toss (a coin),” Komakech described the situation.
The two teams formed separate hurdles in each half of the pitch and anxiously waited for their fate.
A silver one-hundred Uganda Shillings coin (27 millimetres in diameter with reeded edges) was used by match commissar Gary Mabonga for the toss in the presence of Komakech and Echodu, center referee Rosenberg Kanyunyuzi, and URU Chief Technical Officer Ramsey Olinga at the fifteen-metre mark along the centerline of the pitch.
Being the home captain, Echodu would make the call. He called heads – the face with the long-horned Ankole cow. But it seems, after all, that the two rivals were destined to stay tied as the coin flipped in the air and landed upright – on its reeded edge – in the grass.
“(For) The first call, it landed level so we had to re-do the coin toss. Obviously, knowing my Bible, we shall always be the heads and not the tails. I called heads but it landed on tails (the face with the coat of arms of Uganda). As was the game, they were the tails but I guess it was theirs to take,” Echodu revealed.
Komakech, who would soon be so filled with joy that he cried, ran from the scene of the toss to his teammates in yellow. But they did not wait for him to take many more steps as that marked the start of wild jubilations.
Heathens, by sheer luck, had “beaten” Kobs to clinch their spot in the final next weekend in Entebbe.
Kobs, who had indeed had possessional and territorial advantage in the latter stages of the game, were simply unlucky. Three penalty attempts, including one from just five metres away from the uprights, had gone begging during extra time.
The match, and the scenes that followed at Legends Rugby Grounds on the same night Morocco beat Portugal to become the first African country to reach the FIFA World Cup semifinal, will forever be etched on the minds of the players and fans who witnessed with their own eyes.
Uganda Cup 2022 Semifinals Results:
Men’s Cup:
- Kobs 16-16 Heathens (Heathens win by coin toss)
- Rhinos 08-30 Pirates
Women’s Cup:
- Thunderbirds 115-00 Lira Matrix
- Lira Strikers 00-150 Avengers
Men’s Shield:
- Warriors 18-08 Mbarara Titans
- Impis 22-10 Stallions
