Wananchi beat mid-table Badgers 6-3 in Lugogo on Saturday to defend their men’s National Hockey League (NHL) title.
Rivals have been resigned to Wananchi’s triumph for a while but there was still mathematical work for the champions to take care of.
First quarter goals from Innocent Raskara and Emmanuel Baguma set the tone but Badgers tried to make things difficult through quick goals from Cyrus Amanya and Mark Ojok at the start of the second quarter.
But Innocent Tumukunde pulled Wananchi back in front in the 27th minute then cushioned the lead in the 33rd. Amanya pulled one back for Badgers to go into the fourth quarter just 4-3 behind but Wananchi sealed victory with goals from Jerome Owori and Emmanuel Musinguzi then the championship with 46 points and two games to spare. Badgers remain 6th on 21 points.
That win meant that Wananchi watched the Sunday encounter between third-placed Weatherhead and second-placed Kampala Hockey Club (KHC) with little interest.
The Stallions scored first through Aaron Mutenyo’s rebound after captain Jordan Mpiima’s drag flick had hit the cross bar and returned to play.
But it did not take long for Weatherhead to equalize as a searching ball from Moses Tushabe into the circle was collected and calmly finished by league top scorer Brian Okodi (now 38 goals in 16 matches).
Joel Barungi coolly finished to put Weatherhead in the lead before halftime but Ernest Musumba later equalized to earn the Stallions a draw and push them to 37 points – one ahead of Weatherhead.
Another interesting encounter between the two clubs on Sunday saw their older men’s sides KHC Originals, now in 7th with 19 points, and Weatherhead Titans, 9th with eight points, draw 2-2. Again KHC took the lead but Weatherhead replied with two goals from Andrew Onyango and Vincent Kasasa before the former rescued a point through Benjamin Mkapa.
Badgers are two points behind Rockets, who let Thunders open up a four point lead on them in a 5-2 win on Saturday. Muhammad Babu, Khalifan Kamulegeya, Ezra Mandela, and Swabur Kizito all scored before Thomas Opio pulled one back for Rockets in the 24th minute. Rockets pulled another back to make it 4-2 but Kizito got another goal to break them altogether.
Meanwhile, the other Saturday strugglers’ clash between Makerere University and Wananchi Wabalozi saw the latter win 4-0, to move to 13 points in 8th position, owing to goals from Andrew Ndhaye (2), Timothy Hamya, and Frank Nsubuga.
Swans strike Thunder
But the Makerere Stingers were only avenging a similar loss by their women’s side Eagles to Wananchi HDF (Hockey Dreams Foundation). The latter had only eight players but controlled proceedings against the bottom-placed Makerere and relied on Lillian Nelimma converting four penalty corners to keep their place at the top with 34 points.
With two games left to play for each side this season, Wananchi follow on 31 points after beating 6th-placed Deliverance Church of Uganda (DCU) 9-0.
KHC Swans, now on 26 points, played hockey to match their new red kit as they jumped from 3rd to top scoring side of the women’s season (87 goals in 12 games) after obliterating Thunders 24-0 with 10 different scorers. Their lead strikers Sarah Arinaitwe and Sandra Namusoke scored four apiece as Pauline Ninsiima joined them with a brace.
Lucky Akello bagged a hat-trick and inspired Immaculate Nakku and Margaret Nassiwa to get their first hat-tricks too. Judith Mirembe (2), Joy Sserunjogi, and Pauline Achom also bagged their first league goals of the season while captain Vanessa Abeja scored the other goal.
Meanwhile Weatherhead Gazelles trail the Swans by just two points with a meeting between them to come at the end of the season. The Gazelles beat their clubmates Weatherhead Titans 9-0 with four goals from Thuwaibah Kiggundu, three from Martina Amito, and one apiece for Annet Awat and Hilda Star Balondemu.
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Men
Thunders 5-2 Rockets
Makerere University 4-0 Wananchi Wabalozi
Badgers 3-6 Wananchi
KHC Originals 2-2 Weatherhead Titans
KHC Stallions 2-2 Weatherhead
Women
Wananchi 9-0 Deliverance Church
Makerere University 0-4 Wananchi HDF
KHC Swans 24-0 Thunders
Weatherhead Diamonds 0-9 Weatherhead Gazelles
Men’s Table
Team P W D L F A PTS
Wananchi 16 15 1 0 168 22 46
KHC Stallions 16 11 4 1 109 21 37
Weatherhead 16 11 3 2 128 19 36
Thunders 16 9 0 7 58 48 27
Rockets 16 7 2 7 52 56 23
Badgers 16 6 3 7 60 42 21
KHC Originals 16 5 4 7 39 75 19
Makerere University 16 4 1 11 22 73 13
Weatherhead Titans 16 2 2 12 26 75 8
Wananchi Wabalozi 16 0 0 16 4 237 0
Women’s Table
Team P W D L F A PTS
Wananchi HDF 12 11 1 0 87 6 34
Wananchi 12 10 1 1 67 10 31
KHC Swans 12 8 2 2 89 7 26
Weatherhead 12 8 0 4 78 19 24
Weatherhead Diamonds 12 3 1 8 14 54 10
Deliverance Church 12 3 0 9 18 68 9
Thunders 12 1 1 10 8 128 4
Makerere University 12 1 0 11 4 71 3