URA FC are Bell Uganda Cup kings

Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) Football Club coach Alex Isabirye, kept his word yesterday when his team won the 2012 Bell Uganda Cup at Pece Stadium, Gulu.

“I am very happy with this victory because it’s my first Uganda Cup trophy as a coach,” said the former Cranes midfielder who is now chasing a double since his team leads the Bell lager Super League table by three points ahead of Express FC.

In-form Robert Ssentongo gave URA a 3rd minute lead off a deflected free kick, but the Bunnamwaya team handled by Edward Golola put them under lots of pressure. The likes of Ceaser Okuthi and Tony Odur, cheered on by the Gulu fans missed some many scoring chances.

It was the first time that the Uganda Cup final was going out of Kampala and the sponsors and Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) have vowed it will take long before the event returns to the capital city. “We need to take this event out of town and thus spread the game of football more,” said FUFA’s Chief Executive Officer Edgar Watson after the final in Gulu.

Although URA missed the services of injured Manko Kaweesa and Vincent Kayizzi, they played as a team and defended well to deny the charged Bunnamwaya team chance to take the trophy to their base on Entebbe Road.

“I am not really angry that we lost. But it was not our lucky day,” said Bunnamwaya coach Golola after the game. The game attracted a small crowd, but the fans from Northern Uganda were impressed by the performance of the two teams. David Ocaya told URN that he was very impressed with the performance although he thought Bunnamwaya who played better should have won.

“This was good football that we have not witnessed in Gulu in a long time. It was good that the game was brought here,” said Mary Ocici.

The URA coach said although they had won the Cup, they must now concentrate on retaining the League trophy. The coach said after his team failed to travel to Mali to play the second leg of the Champions League qualifier against Djoliba and got eliminated, he wants his team to retain the League and go back to the big stage next season.

Ssentongo, the scorer of the lone goal and top scorer in the tournament together with Felix Feni said his target is to be the top scorer in both the Uganda Cup and the Bell Lager league.