The group stage of the 2024 Buganda Masaza Cup tournament climaxed on Sunday, September 8, 2024, as Mawokota secured a decisive win against Kabula to book a spot in the Round of 8 quarterfinals.
Mawakota’s solo winner came through Mathias Kasadha to take the three crucial points, which saw them progress to the quarters as the best-third-placed teams in Masengere Group, topped by Busujju and Kabula in first and second, respectively.
But the journey to the last eight of the tourney was not a smooth one for Mawokota and its technical team. It all started with the renovation of the Shs 300 million stadium in Mpigi as the team manager, Mr. Denis Bugaya, aimed to restore the past glory of the Ssaza.
Ssenyondo, along with Nkosole Richard (1st assistant coach), Hakim Ssenkumba (2nd assistant/fitness), Bahati Asuman Luzige (goalkeeping coach), and Basittu Bashir (analyst coach), all formed a revamped Mawakota technical bench for this year’s Masaza Cup tourney.
But the fortunes to progress were not all attributed to the technical bench alone; Bugaya, a legal expert, also proved pivotal when he petitioned the match result in the return fixture against Ssese, where he accused the hosts of fielding unlicensed players in the match Mawokota had lost 1-0.
Following his petition, the players’ tribunal and disciplinary committee ruled in favor of Mawokota, and the result was overturned as a walkover, taking home 3 points and 3 goals against the defendant (Ssese).
This pivotal 3-0 result, coupled with three 1-0 wins and four draws, saw Mawokota garner a total of 16 points, losing only two matches against Busujju and Kabula in a 10-match group stage fixture.
Despite finishing third in the Masengere Group, the 16 points by Mawokota bettered any third-placed team in the three groups of Masengere, Bulange, and Muganzirwazza. They progressed together with Kyaggwe, which finished as the second-best team in third place with 15 points.
Source: Chimpreports