The Kampala Hockey Club (KHC) Stallions rallied from a goal down to defeat Malawi’s Genetrix 3-1 to secure bronze in the men’s Africa Cup of Club Champions (ACCC), which concluded Sunday in Blantyre.
KHC revealed a lot about themselves when they first played, defeating Genetrix 2-1 in the round-robin stage on Saturday.
It was no surprise, then, that Genetrix had the superior first quarter and topped it off with an early goal through their danger man Phillimon Bwali at the start of the second.
However, KHC responded just immediately by winning a penalty corner. Alfred Agaba sold the defenders a dummy and let the ball role to Samuel Wakhisi, whose straight ball back into the D was deflected home by Brian Bayuule in the 18th minute.
KHC won another penalty corner but this time, their injector James Mugisha went short to Allan Malit rather than push the ball diagonally to top D. The improvisation allowed Malit time to send a thunderous shot straight through Genetrix’s runners for a 2-1 lead just before half time.
KHC then started to dominate the game and scored another penalty corner through Bayuule in the 54th minute to put the game beyond doubt.
“It took a lot of mental strength for us to get to this achievement,” Wakhisi said, after KHC became the first Ugandan hockey team to win a continental medal.
“We had some young players and a thin bench of just three players. All that after braving over 2,400km on the road.
But the experienced players showed a lot of guidance and played like they meant it. In the end, the team dynamics were good and got us through,” he added.
