Vipers sports club concluded the StarTimes Uganda Premier League first round campaign with a hard fought 1-1 stalemate on the road at Luzira against Maroons FC which later turned into a forfeiture after the home team was found guilty of using an ineligible player.
It has been a remarkable round for the Venoms and hope to build on it during the second round in a bid to seek league success despite Head Coach Edward Golola inheriting a struggling squad from Kenyan Michael Nam Ouma at the start of the season.
Under Golola, we have been able to register our best ever first round points tally of 36 beating the previous record of 35 points set by the 2014/15 league winning squad surpassing his own record in the process.
Ahead of the decisive second round, here is a recap of a statistical view of the concluded first opening reflecting the club’s performances in numbers.
It was a gruesome round full of mixed displays; some were good, others poor, a few individual brilliances plus a host of breakthroughs by the academy teenagers.
15
Number of games Vipers played in the first round of the league between late September and November 2019.
11
The matches that we won during the campaign having played 7 games at home, won 6, drew 1, whilst we registered 4 victories, one loss and a draw from the eight games played away.
23
The total number of goals scored in the first round games with Fahad Bayo Aziz contributing the lion’s share.
9
Fahad Bayo topped the club’s scorers chart netting 9 times from 13 games.
He scored only 2 away goals (against Kyetume and Maroons), the seven were all scored at home in matches against, Tooro United, Mbarara City, Proline, Express and Wakiso Giants.
7
Goals we conceded in total infact it would have been 8 but one was chopped off after a boardroom decision against Maroons, implying on average we let in 0.53 goals per match.
Vipers leaked just 3 goals at home; during our 2-2 draw with Mbarara City and the 2-1 win over BUL FC well as 4 goals were scored against us away from the St Mary’s stadium as we conceded against KCCA, Kyetume, Police and Bright Stars.
8
Matches where we kept clean sheets a clear statistic that our defence was solid and intact against opponents such as Tooro United, SC Villa, Proline, Busoga United, Onduparaka, URA, Wakiso Giants and Express FC.
9
The number of man of the match prizes that our players scooped. Aziz Kayondo won it 3 times, Fahad Bayo 2, while Byaruhanga Bobosi, Rahmat Ssenfuka, Abraham Ndugwa and Siraje Sentamu were also named.
15
Paul Willa is the only player who featured in all our opening round games. He infact played each game 90 minutes without being substituted.
3
Vipers failed to score three times on the road; during two of our scoreless stalemates with SC Villa and Onduparaka plus the 1-0 defeat at KCCA.
2
Penalties we registered from the 15 games. Dan Sserunkuma converted our first in the 2-1 triumph over Kyetume and Bayo scored the other against Maroons.
4
Assists apiece from Bayo Fahad and Bobosi Byaruhanga were created although the former was directly involved in 2 fouls that resulted into goals. Bayo’s foul at the edge of the box against Bul FC resulted into a set piece that Allan Kayiwa scored and the penalty against Kyetume at Namboole.
21
Total number of bookings that we registered in the first round. Our only red card was seen in the 1-0 win over Tooro United after Farouk Musisi was sent for an early shower.
6
Goals we conceded in the first 45 minutes of our matches. We let in early goals against Bright Stars, Mbarara City, Bul, KCCA and Police FC.
2
Goals were leaked in the second half; in the 83rd and 56th minutes against Mbarara City and Kyetume respectively.
1
The number of appearance made by both Henry Kitegenyi and Rashid Toha. They are the only players who have played a single game at the club in the first round.
0
Ahamed Amayo and Denis Kiggundu did not play despite being on the bench a few times.
Finally, apart from the 9 goals Fahad Bayo scored, others were supplemented by;
Dan Sserunkuma – 3 (against Bright Stars, Kyetume & URA)
Abraham Ndugwa – 1 (against Bright Stars)
Brian Nkuubi – 1 (against Bright Stars)
Halid Lwaliwa – 1 (against Police FC)
Paul Willa – 1 (against Police FC
Allan Kayiwa – 1 (against Bul FC)
Frank ‘Zaga’ Tumwesigye – 1 (against Bul FC)
Bobosi Byaruhanga – 1 (against Busoga United)
Karim Watambala – 1 (against Police FC)
Brian Kalumba – 1 (against Express FC)
General statistical overview:
Matches Total Home Away
Played 15 7 8
Wins 10 6 4
Draws 4 1 3
Losses 1 0 1
Goals for 21 11 10
Goals against 8 3 5
Points 34 19 15
Clean sheets 8 5 3
Av. goal p/m 1.4 1.57 1.25
conceded p/m 0.53 0.43 0.62
Failed to 3 0 3
Biggest 3-0 3-0 3-1
Biggest – – 0-1
The statistics above reveal there has been an improvement in our performances with the source of the goals spread across the team though close contests have been witnessed thus the need to step up the gear in the conversion rate.
As we wait for the StarTimes Uganda Premier League second round fixtures, the technical team is busy assessing all players performances to devise a proper strategy for the forthcoming final bend.