In the highly anticipated clash between two of Uganda’s most loved football clubs, SC Villa emerged victorious over their local rivals Express FC in the second game of the grand reopening of the Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium also known as Hamz Stadium.
The match, referred to as the “Eternal Derby” saw Villa, who are the reigning Uganda Premier League champions maintain their dominance over Express, thanks to a lone goal from Andrew Otim.
The game kicked off at 7:40 pm, and straight away, both teams started vying for the bragging rights that come with winning this historic fixture.
Express’ Alpha Thierry Ssali had an early chance to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute, but his effort was cleared off the line by Villa’s Raymond Mangoli.
Three minutes later, Frank Yiga of the Red Eagles spotted Villa goalkeeper Meddy Kibirige off his line and attempted an audacious long-range effort, but it sailed over the crossbar. The first half ended 0-0.
SC Villa came out firing in the second half. Shortly after the restart, Andrew Otim broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with an acrobatic header, giving the Uganda Premier League champions the lead.
Otim nearly doubled his tally in the 63rd minute, but his shot was saved by the Express goalkeeper Yunus Abubaker, before the rebound by Aslam Semakula hit the post, keeping the score at 1-0.
The Jogoos continued to assert their dominance in the dying minutes of the game, maintaining their lead until the final whistle.
The victory marked SC Villa’s third consecutive win over Express, having defeated them twice in the just-concluded Uganda Premier League season courtesy of 1-0 and 2-1 wins. The win earned SC Villa a prize of UGX 10 million, while Express FC took home UGX 5 million for their participation.
The runners-up medals were presented to the Express players and staff by a number of delegates including stadium proprietor Hajji Hamis Kiggundu, FUFA president Eng. Moses Magogo, staunch Express fan Godfrey Kirumira and Villa president Hajji Omar Mandela.
This was followed by the presentation of the winners’ medals to the Villa team by the same people. Villa’s Raymond Mangoli was the MVP of the match and he bagged himself UGX 1 million for his superb performance in the game.
