Chaotic end as BUL FC defeat Busoga United

Njeru, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Njeru based FUFA technical center was on Saturday evening engulfed in chaotic scenes after a section of fans stormed the pitch, protesting BUL FC’s 3-0 lead over their side Busoga United FC.

BUL earned their first two goals from Lawrence Tezikya in the 10th and second added minute of the first round respectively, which increased his club’s title hopes, as close contenders, SC Villa had ended the first round in a goalless draw with their hosts, NEC FC.

Their fortunes were however, overturned in the second round of play when Villa earned two goals from Charles Lwanga in the 67th and Hakim Kiwanuka in the 75th minute, respectively, abandoning BUL to settle for a runners up position.

This status quo created speculation and anxiety among Busoga United fans who anticipated for a compromising situation for a win against BULFC, which would increase their chances of surviving relegation, with 28 points against close rivals UPDF FC, who survived with 27 points.

Their speculative hopes were however, thwarted in the 88th minute of the game when BUL’s Richard Okello scored a third goal.

This new score was witnessed with fans storming the pitch and intimidating the referees to end the game, in fear of a humiliating defeat enroute to the relegation zone.

They further insulted players from both sides, pelted them with plastic chairs and empty water bottles over unfounded allegations.

This situation prompted referees to pose the game for close to five minutes as they peacefully encouraged the fans to resume their positions in vain.

They later invited both police and UPDF personnel who used sticks to forcefully beat up adamant fans until they left the pitch.

The referees later kicked off the game after close to a 15 minutes standoff, before ending it at 3-0 victory in favor of BUL.

Sulah Ngobi, the head of Busoga United fans says that, football is an emotional sport and it is hard to control the actions of spectators during times of loss more less relegation. “Our team has been successfully overcoming relegation in the past two seasons, but winning this game was only hope and it was hard for us to control the actions of the fans after this overwhelming defeat,” he says.

Meanwhile, BUL’s assistant coach, James Magala says that, each team has it’s own seasonal targets and they were deliberate about winning today’s game as their sole grip to this year’s Uganda premier league title.

Magala notes that, it is unfortunate for their two derby sides Busoga and Gaddafi FC to be relegated, but he advised them to reorganize themselves with hopes of having a better top flight league comeback next season.

Magala also expresses dismay over their failure to have this season’s trophy despite exhibiting overwhelming performance throughout the season, but he is hopeful the technical will conduct expeditious assessment on their strong points as a bolster to competing for next season’s title.

On his part, Busoga’s head coach, Vincent Lukyamuzi hailed the boys resilience throughout the season, adding that, they will have a better comeback next season.

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URN