St Mary’s Kitende secured a 2-0 victory against Blessed Sacrament Kimanya in the ongoing 2024 USSSA Games at Sports Arena on Friday.
Fans’ favourite Blessed Sacrament Kimanya was ejected from the tournament thanks to St Mary’s Kitende’s well-deserved victory.
Kitende took an early lead through Isa Bugembe who nodded home Hassan Mubiru’s delivery in the sixth minute.
Despite being a goal down, Kimanya kept composed and tried to build from the back but was challenged by a waterlogged pitch.
Bugembe nearly doubled Kitende’s lead but narrowly missed to connect with Hakim Mutebi’s delightful finish.
Eight minutes to the break, towering defender Ronald Madoi scored Kitende’s second goal with a powerful header off Mutebi’s header.
Despite the mammoth crowd and chants, Kimanya was trailing by two goals at halftime.
In the 50th minute, Denis Kisiriko failed to convert from close range with only a goalkeeper to beat.
In the final minutes, second-half substitute Arafat Nkoola went past Kitende’s backline but his resultant effort bounced off the frame.
After the final whistle, Kitende’s head coach Daniel Male revealed that they were prepared to play in front of a huge crowd and take away their chances.
“It’s been a tough game since we were against a home team that was backed up by a huge crowd. But we came prepared and we had to take away our chances,” he said.
“We knew their backline is made up of short players and so we resorted to long balls that yielded two goals before the break,” he added.
“We now shift our attention to the next game because each game matters till the end of the tournament. I will keep rallying the boys to fight so that we defend the title.”
USSSA Games | Quarterfinals
- St Mary’s Kitende 2-0 Blessed Sacrament
- Amus College 0-3 Jinja Progressive
- St Juliana 0(3)-0(2) Masaka SS
- Bukedea Comprehensive 0(5)-0(4) Kisozi Seed
