URA FC continued their imperious run on the road with a sixth consecutive away victory as the club marched to the top of the table, two points ahead of Express FC and three ahead of Vipers who have a game in hand.
Head coach Sam Ssimbwa made one change to his lineup, handing Ivan Sserubiri his first start since suffering a muscle injury against Express FC in February. The midfielder started in the place of Moses Sseruyidde who dropped to the bench. Goalkeeper Hannington Ssebwalunnyo continued in goal with his third consecutive start, while Micheal Birungi returning from a thigh muscle strain made the bench.
URA made the better start dominating the midfield with Steven Mukwala’s pace on the left and Ssali Davis’ trickery on the right a handful for the Police defense. Captain Shafik Kagimu was the fulcrum of the team’s attack finding spaces and seeing lots of the ball in the final third as the boys came close a couple of times inside the opening 15 minutes.
The best scoring opportunity came through Brian Majwega’s free-kick which had Police goalkeeper Tom Ikara beaten but brushed off the upright.
The breakthrough arrived in the 24th minute, Kagimu powering a low shot from just inside the box into the bottom corner after Police failed to clear Brian Majweega’s corner.
Shortly after, URA nearly doubled their lead from Ssali’s low cross which beat the Police defence but Mukwala arriving at the far post was denied by the upright as URA took a first half lead into the break.
Mukwala’s day came to a worrying end shortly after the start of the second half with the striker stretchered off with an ankle sprain following a nasty collision with Ikara. Moses Sseruyidde took his place in the 46th minute.
Cromwell Rwothomio scored for a second consecutive game with a smart finish past Derrick Ochan who had replaced Ikara after Kagimu had played him through on goal.
Micheal Birungi was given his first minutes since December 2020 as a second-half substitute in the 76th minute. A minute later, Paul Mbowa who had a dominant game as a defensive midfielder was booked – the only booking for the side on the day – for a foul on Police’s Tony Kiwalaze.
The boys managed to see out a disciplined and comfortable victory, keeping a fourth consecutive clean sheet which was also the club’s fifth consecutive victory as they climbed to the top of the table.
Vipers can tie with URA on points with a win in their game on Wednesday against SC Villa giving more meaning to our game at the Arena of Visions against Vipers SC.