Onduparaka’s hopes of reaching the Uganda Cup final for the second time in a row were crashed after being knocked out of the competition at the quarter finals by Sadolin Paints on Sunday at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
In a game that witnessed suspicious refereeing by the center referee Ali Kaddu and his assistants, Sadolin took the lead through Fred Kyambade in the 18th minute following poor goalkeeping from Richard Anyama.
Peter Kirumira’s side doubled the advantage in stoppage time of the first half through Nasser Muzamiru and the first half ended with the hosts in the driving seat.
Onduparaka began the second half the better side and it took them twelve minutes to halve the deficit through Ceaser Okhuti, but the goal came in a dubious manner as Okhuti appeared offside.
The decision to award the goal spurred the exchange of blows between the two teams, and the first assistant referee didn’t survive as he received cuffs from Sadolin players and a couple of Sadolin fans.
Despite the punches, no player was shown matching orders.
Earlier in the first half, Kaddu yellow carded Sadolin’s top scorer in the league Norman Ojik for allegedly simulating, yet he appeared to have been fouled inside the danger zone.
Despite the officiating being against them on the face of it, Sadolin Paints were able to stage a grit fight as Onduparaka enjoyed much of the ball in the second half.
The result coupled with the shocker at St Mary’s Stadium, Kitende where Vipers were knocked out of the cup by Big League side Paidha Black Angels means the final that will be hosted at the Green Light Stadium, Arua will have different teams.
Onduparaka and Vipers played in the final last year.
The result also means there will be a new champion since Vipers were the holders.
