Winning the League title last season has put OBB on the big boys’ target, as teams will barter a soul, to watch them come down.
Such ambitions from an opponent leave the Orange Block Busters with no alternative, but to regroup quicker than they ever did, if they are to defend the title, or even dare to stop Nemo and Sport-S, rivals they have already fallen to, in straight sets this season.
In their clash against Nemostars on Saturday, OBB was early to claim the lead in the final set, but a well-composed net defense by middle blocker Bernard Malinga saw the Okapis-coached side complete a three-Nil sweep against the defending champions.
The game-pause, owing to a heavy downpour midway through the second set came as a relief to OBB, and they somehow found enough healing there.
On return, the guests recorded a close call managing to chase down a six-point gap from 10, almost catching up at 20 but were put to the sword with five points to clean.
In his reaction after the game, Luke Eittit, OBB Head Coach pointed out composure and a keen eye for errors as some of the reasons Nemostars stood out, against his boys.
“Nemo were much more composed than us, we had more errors than they did and that cost us. We made a lot of service errors which demoralized the team and that was the difference. Nemo deserved the win,” OBB coach Eittit said.
This would turn out to be Eittit’s second outing with the team, and he hopes to draw lessons from the loss, to improve his side ahead of next weekend when he faces KAVC, who are yet to lose a single game.
OBB played without wing attacker Jonathan Tumukunde and middle blocker Salva Marial, which Luke believes had a huge difference on how the result could have turned out.
“Ivan is out injured, we are not sure how long it will take. We had other injury concerns as well, Jonathan was out, and Salva was not available as well, but it’s not a one-man team, the boys understand what they are supposed to do.”
Through new signing Brian Atuhaire, the Orange Block Busters could be on their way to finding a lasting solution to replace opposite Ivan Ongom who will be out for an unspecified time, nursing an injury.
The former Sport-S attacker was a face to remember, as OBB and Nemostars entertained their fans to a mimic of last season’s League final.
“We are training him to do his best, we know his capabilities and we want him to function as part of the team, and not individually, so everybody on the team can compliment the other with their different skills,” Luke said.
