Milton Karisa assessed what Vipers SC can build and improve on after they began the new 2023/24 season with a 2-1 win at Gaddafi in Jinja.
The Venoms were in the ascendancy in the early stages of Sunday’s Uganda Premier League clash as Karisa and new signing from Mauritania Mohamed Salem Ekbad scored the two first half goals.
But the hosts came back to get a consolation through Benson Muhindo’s penalty after the break.
Post-match, team-captain Milton Karisa gave his reaction to the result to Vipers Media at the Gaddafi Arena. Read the interview below…
On whether it was the kind of opening game of the season Vipers SC expected…
Yeah, definitely: intense, quick against difficult opposition. It was kind of what we expected, [it’s] always difficult coming to Jinja and we expected a difficult game and that’s what we got. [We] take the three points, no shame in that; we could have scored more but we also could have drawn it, so we take the points.
On what changed after the Venoms had the better of the first half and opening 20 to 25 minutes of the second half…
At a place like this, the atmosphere and the momentum shifts and from that point on they kind of controlled everything. I think there was a point in the game when we all kind of realised that this was a game that we don’t want to lose rather than we want to control and win. So although we kept attacking and we wanted to try to win it, it was make sure defensively we’re sound, we work on it as a unit and there’s no shame in playing for the point at a certain time.
On the team’s defending under pressure on the day…
They asked questions, they have got really good attackers and they tried to break us down, but I think we defended well. I think the two centre-halves were outstanding especially in the way that they dealt with their attacking line. At times they are exposed because of the system and the way that we play but they dealt with it really well and they were in positions to cover.
On the belief Vipers SC will improve game by game…
For sure. The first game of the season is never really that smooth – there’s always things to work on and keep getting better at. There’s no difference today. We performed at a decent level, it was a decent result, a lot of things to work on but at the same time you take the points and go and build on it at home against Arua Hill SC.