The veteran tactician explains his team’s determination to win the game worked in their favour as they sealed their Round of 16 spot
Uganda Revenue Authority coach Sam Ssimbwa was left impressed with the team’s character after they beat Mbarara City 1-0 to progress to the Round of 16 of the Uganda Cup on Saturday.
After the two teams had settled to a 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Arena of Visions in Ndejje on Tuesday, the Tax Collectors turned on the heat to win the return leg 1-0 courtesy of Brian Majwega, and the win also enabled URA to register their first-ever win against the Ankole Lions since their inception into the Ugandan Premier League.
The two teams had met seven times in all competitions and with all the matches ending in draws and after the match, Ssimbwa praised his charges for sealing a place in the next round and explained their determination to get a win in the fixture helped them to advance.
“The character of the team was superb, we were determined to get a result and played for that,” Ssimbwa told the club’s official website after the game. “Mbarara City is a bogey side that always gives us a hard time so am glad the players followed the instructions to the letter.”
Ssimbwa along with his technical team required a win or any goalscoring draw to progress to the Round of 16 and he made four changes to the team that started the home game against the same opposition.
Katongole Faruku replaced Benjamin Nyakoojo, Ivan Sserubiri for Moses Sseruyidde, Ojera Joackiam for Galiwango Arafat while Ibrahim Dada came on for Cromwell Rwothomio.
The Tax Collectors started the game like a house on fire with a couple of half-chances in the 4th and 7th minutes and it didn’t take them long before Ibrahim Dada was brought down in the opposition box in the 12th minute for a URA penalty.
This was taken by Majwega who missed from the first attempt but found the back of the net off a rebound on the third time of asking.
URA would dominate the game as was the case at home (Arena of Visions) last Tuesday and their dominance saw them get into a good position in the first half-most notably in the 20th minute where team captain Shafik Kagimu saw his effort hit the side of the net.
Captain Kagimu was happy for the win stating as quoted by the same portal: “I would like to thank Allah for the day and the win first, I would also love to thank my teammates and the coaching staff.
“We knew we needed to do more in this game to earn the qualification and our technical team took charge. They assessed the game and helped us prepare well.”
URA will now shift their focus to the league action where they will host KCCA FC at the Arena of Visions in Ndejje.
