Wednesday 15th March
•Express vs Paidha Black Angels, Wankulukuku (FUFA TV)
•Onduparaka vs BUL/Villa, Greenlight Stadium
Stanbic Uganda Cup defending champions BUL FC will be seeking for a perfect start under interim coach Simeon Masaba when they face Onduparaka at the Greenlight stadium on wednesday.
Masaba was elevated to his new role on Monday this week, replacing Alex Isabirye, who left for UPL side Vipers SC.
And his first test at the club comes after 48 hours with a long trip to Arua.
“It’s a tricky game but we are going to see that we work hard to see that we seal a place in the quarter finals,” Masaba told the club’s media ahead of the game.
“We have to work as a team to motivate players and see that their attitude is good as well because their work rate on the pitch will give us the energy and the win.”
On Saturday, BUL needed a replay to eliminate SC Villa 1-0 on aggregate at the round of 32 after the first meeting between the two sides was cancelled out after ‘poor officiating’.
The game held at Njeru was Alex Isabirye’s last game at the Jinja-based club that ended on a winning note.
And the visit to Greenlight stadium will be Masaba’s first test and he will seek to take his side to the next stage.
Against Onduparaka, they face a side that has struggled in the league and have eyes on this competition to save their season.
But Masaba will bank on his side’s rich form in this tournament in the past two seasons to keep their hopes of retaining the title they won last year.
On the other hand, the hosts, Onduparaka will be seeking to stop the defending champions BUL, at their home in Arua.
The West Nile based club have reached this far after eliminating two lower league sides.
First, they dumped out Pakwach Young stars 1-0 before beating Junior Eagles FC 2-0 to reach this stage.
And BUL presents them a bigger test than their previous opponents in this year’s competition.
Ahead of the game, their head coach Steven Bogere said that they will use the same spirit to stop BUL on Wednesday.
“It’s an opportunity for us to go further in the competition but most importantly for us to prove that we are still a strong team that is ready to fight.
“We played the last two rounds away, against lower league teams but they were not easy to beat. We were resilient and that is the same spirit we shall bring against BUL,” Bogere told the club’s media.
This season, Onduparaka have endured a poor start as they are currently at the bottom in the league.
But in this year’s Uganda Cup, they have tried to grind out results against lower sides and are yet to concede any goal.
Their last home game was a 2-1 win over Gaddafi in the league and they will be seeking to use the same energy to stop the Eastern Giants on Wednesday.
They will also bank on their home advantage to keep hopes of winning any silverware and give back to their supportive home fans.
