The first half of the Uganda Cup game between the KOBs and Buffaloes ended 3 points a piece, in a 40-minute display that was below both teams’ standards.
KOBs took an early lead through a Joseph Aredo penalty, and that was the difference between the two sides for a large chunk of the first half.
In the first 20 minutes of the game, the KOBs camped in Buffaloes’ territory, but opted to try out a few things on different occasions. They set up a maul but the Buffaloes defended that very well.
Then both teams resorted to the aerial battle that neither won, but was good for entertainment. Aredo and Arinaitwe on one side, Ndahura and Baddokwaya on the other, exchanging bombs in a beautiful game of rugby ping pong, was my highlight of the first half.
When the Buffaloes went on the front foot, they played one too many fruitless phases in the KOBs’ 22-meter area. Although the phases didn’t pay off in that instance, they were an indicator of Buffaloes winning the physical battle. Before the break, the Buffaloes levelled the score through a Humphrey Ndahura penalty.
In the second half, the KOBs got a scrum feed but delayed to pick the ball from the base of the scrum, hence inviting pressure from the Buffaloes pack, which led to a knock on. Off the subsequent Buffaloes scrum, Douglas Musoke received the ball in the midfield and ran a good line to set up a long pass to Moses Olweny, who scored the first try of the day. Ndahura missed the conversion, but later slotted in a penalty that stretched Buffaloes’ lead. Aredo immediately responded with a penalty for KOBs to bring the score to 11-6 for the visitors.
A Hussein Shein penalty almost sealed KOBs’ fate, not until youngster Shariq Okole scored a try off a KOBs’ scrum, with an Ibrahim Khemis conversion making it a one-point game.
A high tackle on Karim Arinaitwe in a prime position gave Khemis an opportunity to put his team ahead 16-14, and that’s how the game ended.