The group stage of the 2024 Buganda Masaza Cup tournament climaxed on Sunday, September 08 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-best-placed teams in Masengere Group topped by Busujju and Kabula in first and second respectively.
But the journey to the last 8 of the tourney was not a smooth one for Mawokota and its technical team. It all started with the renovation of the shs300m stadium in Mpigi as the team manager Mr Denis Bugaya aimed to restore the past glory of the Buganda county.
Additionally, Bugaya’s decision to reshuffle the team’s technical staff and bring in Kitara FC’s Brian Ssenyondo as Mawokota head coach proved to be the turning point as the tactician turned things around with crucial 1-0 wins against Ssese, Buvuma and Kabula on the final matchday which proved decisive for the team’s progress to the next round.
Ssenyondo along with Nkosole Richard (1st Ass coach), Hakim Ssenkumba (2nd Ass/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 favour of Mawokota and the result was overturned as a walkover taking home 3 points and 3 goals against the defendant (Ssese).
Dennis Bugaya with the Mawokota County chief Kayima Sarah Nanono inspecting progress of the stadium renovation
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.
Here is the the full list of Quarterfinalists
1. Buddu
2. Kyaddondo
3. Busujju
4. Kabula
5. Buweekula
6. Ssingo
7. Mawokota
8. Kyaggwe
About Masaza Cup
The Masaza Cup is an annual Buganda Kingdom tournament that was inaugurated in 2004. The tournament features teams from the 18 Counties of Buganda. No players who are active in the FUFA Big League, Uganda Premier League and national team are eligible to play in Masaza cup with the justification of identifying and developing new talent elsewhere.
The tourney is sponsored by Airtel Uganda, Centenary Bank, CBS radio, BBS Telefaina, and Kansai Plascon among others.
