Uganda Cup Final: Vipers SC v BUL FC - Vipers SC Official Website

Vipers SC return to the Fufa Njeru Technical Centre to face Bul FC in the Stanbic Uganda Cup final this Sunday.

This will be Vipers’ fifth final appearance in the oldest cup competition. The team last won it in 2016, beating Onduparaka FC 3-1 at Nakivubo Stadium.

It will be 1,990 days since Bul FC last beat Vipers SC in a competitive game when we meet again tomorrow. That 1-0 victory on April 15, 2016, at our former temporary home in Buikwe had big ramifications.

That defeat is one of the reasons KCCA FC leapfrogged us to win the 2015/16 Uganda Premier League (UPL) title by four points. That result is Bul’s only victory over Vipers in the last 10 clashes.
Infact, the latter have won eight, including the last five in a row.

Despite winning the Cup in 2016, only SC Villa have lost as many Cup finals as Vipers – three.

Tomorrow’s finalists, then known as Bunnamwaya FC, lost on their first appearance in the Cup, beaten 1-0 by URA FC in Gulu in 2012.

A change of name to Vipers SC didn’t alter so much luck right away the following year in Mbale. The now-defunct Victoria University beat Vipers 5-3 in a post-match penalty shootout after a 1-all stalemate in 120 minutes.

All that hurt was buried in 2016 as a packed Nakivubo Stadium saw Vipers SC rip Onduparaka FC apart in a 3-1 win to lift their first Uganda Cup title. Pius Wangi bagged a brace and Erisa Sekisambu got the other.

We lost again in 2017, 1-0 to KCCA FC in Bukedea. Julius Poloto scored the lone goal.

Vipers are only bidding to join five others on two diadems. BUL FC, under the tutelage of Alex Isabirye, want their first title.

It will be Bul’s first final but they will not be under estimated by coach Roberto Oliviera’s team.

“The only aim, the only focus, and all our energy is going to be on winning that trophy, it doesn’t matter where we start. BUL FC being in the final means they have so far this season where they are – but we are going to go for it.” exp-laned assistant coach Marcelo Cardoso.

Team News:

The echoes of 2017/18 may feel irresistible but there is so much work still to be done to achieve anything this season. The first marker that can be put down comes this weekend with the possibility of a second Stanbic Uganda Cup triumph.

While Robertinho monitors the availability of Halid Lwaliwa, he has the luxury of a near-full squad from which to select his starting 11, and five substitutes available on the day.

How we reached the final:

Round of 32: Vipers SC v Busoga United (Won 5-1 on aggregate)

Round of 16: Vipers SC v UPDF FC (Won 4-2 on aggregate)

Quarterfinals: Vipers SC v SC VIlla (Won 3-1 on aggregate)

Semifinals: Vipers SC v Police FC (Won 2-0 in a one-legged affair)

Head to head

Last 10 meetings

Vipers SC 1-0 BUL FC
BUL FC 2-3 Vipers SC
Vipers SC 2-1 BUL FC
Vipers SC 1-0 BUL FC
BUL FC 1-3 Vipers SC
BUL FC 0-0 Vipers SC
Vipers SC 1-0 BUL FC
BUL FC 1-2 Vipers SC
Vipers SC 1-0 BUL FC
Vipers SC 0-1 BUL FC