Buddu overcome Buweekula to clinch second Masaza cup title

By Mark Kawalya

The much-anticipated finals of the Masaza Cup title that was held on Saturday, March 5, saw Buddu trounce Buweekula by 2 goals to nil. Held at St. Mary’s Stadium in Kitende, large crowds of fans thronged the bleachers, throwing their support behind their respective teams. The Masaza Cup is an annual soccer tournament that features teams from different parts of Buganda (an area stretched out over central Uganda and is under the jurisdiction of Buganda Kingdom)

The victory was the second for Buddu and interestingly, it was the second loss in the finals that Buweekula has suffered after failing to make good on several chances they had in the first half of the match. Buddu who were also crowned the 2016 champions, have risen from the ashes, having lost in the finals a record three times in the past. This was their first victory over Gomba in a match held at Namboole Stadium 7 years ago.

Buddu’s victory was sealed by captain Marvin Kavuma and Bruno Bunyaga who utilized tactful strikes to bury Buweekula dreams of emerging 2021 winners in an event that was graced by Buganda’s King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi. 

After one hour of play, Kavuma sent a well-calculated header off Gideon Odongo’s freekick past Buweekula’s goalkeeper Isaac Kwizera that sent Buddu’s excited fans into a wild frenzy of dancing and ululating as they celebrated.

The lead was further stretched 13 minutes later when Bruno Bunyaga fired off another shot from close range that increased his tournament tally to six goals. 

Fans rallying behind Buddu who had filled the stadium 6 hours before the match started, welcomed the final whistle with wild celebration for a team that had only recently lost the previous final to Gomba 3-1. 

Buweekula will have to rue several missed chances in the first period of the game that saw Shafic Kakande take a shot over the bar while Michael Abura and Ismail Tumbula wasted good opportunities to stand up to Buddu. 

The title for the most valuable player went to Buddu goalkeeper Michael Lutaya while the golden boot honor (with six goals) went to Isaac Musiima (Buweekula) and Bunyaga who also had six goals. The second runner-up, Buweekula was given the Fair Play award for being the team with the most well-disciplined players.