By James Robert Kayindi
The fate of Uganda in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers suffered another big blow after a second consecutive defeat during their away visit to Lome, Togo on match day four of the qualifiers. Like the story was last Saturday at Namboole stadium, Uganda lost to the Sparrow Hawks of Togo by a slim margin of 1-0 at the Stade De Kugue stadium in Lome.
A 70th minute header by Serge Akakpo from a free kick was the final blow that sunk the Cranes after holding their breath for a goalless encounter for 69minutes. Savio Kabugo and Khalid Aucho were the first half darlings of the Uganda Cranes after a block and an off the line clearance respectively from Emmanuel Adebayor’s shots that almost crossed the line before half time to keep it 0-0 by recess.
Up front, Micho’s two man attack that was led by the day’s captain Geoffrey Masa and KCCA’s Brian Umony had fruitless efforts before Umony was taken off for Brian Majwega. Upon coming on Brian Majwega had the best chance to save the day for the Uganda Cranes after receiving an exquisite pass from Kizito Luwaga in the 18-yard box but failed to convert the opportunity as Djehani N’guissan Yao, the Togolese goalie saved.
A foul from Isaac Isinde on Donou Kokou, the goal scorer at Namboole last Saturday gave away the free-kick that became the turning point of the game. Gakpe Serge took the free-kick from which Akakpo headed into the back of the net to sink the Cranes.
Togo’s lead saw the Cranes mount pressure on the hosts in a bid to get an equalizer but all efforts were in vain with Kizito Luwaga’s long range shot being saved by the Togolese goalie.
The result saw the Sparrow Hawks move to second position at 6points in four games behind the Black stars of Ghana who thumped Guinea 3-1 to maintain top spot with 8points in four games. Uganda dropped to third position on 4points and Guinea bottom at similar points but with a poor goal difference to complete the Group E log.
Email Robert: robert.k.circles@gmail.com