Following their Tuesday defeat, Wankulukuku side Express FC on Friday recovered to turn the bad visitors tormenting their hosts Vipers SC at the World War II memorial stadium in Nakivubo in the Azam Uganda Premier League.
After a slow start to the game, the visitors who missed some of their the starters gained momentum partly courtesy of former Vipers’ old boy cum midfielder Saddam Juma who had a man of the match displayed at Nakivubo on a chilly evening.
Saddam Juma dazzles Vipers’ players
In the 34th minute, Juma exhibited a brilliant display that saw him pass the ball and was well tapped into the hosts’ net by Derrick Tekkwo to give the Red Eagles the deserved lead.
In the second half, the visitors returned with more energy as they tried to take the score beyond reach only for Noah Ssemakula and Juma to miss a number of chances.
However on the other side, Vipers who didn’t look sharp tried to exert pressure on the visitors’ goal but their lead striker Erisa Ssekisambu and Kakaire Brian failed to deliver goals.
Eriasa Ssekisambu tries to go past Musa Mukasa as Tekkwo looks on
Skipper cum defender Nicholas Wadada and Dan Birikwalira also had a number of crosses on their account only to be wasted by Vipers’ blunt strikers on the day.
Speaking shortly after the game, Express head coach Gita said the win was a big inspiration to his team as go into the next game away to defending champions KCCA FC at the Philip Omondi stadium in Lugogo on Tuesday.
“It was a big boost that brought back the players confidence that will be a key factor in our next game .We hope to implement the same formation of play when we face KCCA FC,” said Gita .
Nicholas Wadada goes past Noah Ssemakula.
He also applauded Saddam Juma for a wonderful individual display which he said is important and will help the team in the next games.
The Express’ away win against the Kitende based side was the first since 2011 and was indeed sweet as it saw them move past their hosts to 3rd place at 11 points whereas vipers were relegated to 5th with 9 points on the Azam Uganda Premier League .