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Nile Special Rugby League MTN Heathens 30 UTL Kobs 03 Not even the 4 hour torrential rain that morning dampened the enthusiasm of the fans and the spirit of the players.Kyadondo RFC grounds was at full capacity by 4 pm. Heathens went on to win the first round of the bout against Kobs with a devastating knock out punch!After a closely contested first half with Heathens narrowly leading 5-3 the defending champions rampaged to a 30-3 bonus point win against Kobs in the second half. It is a rarity for either of these sides to win by the bonus point when they square up and so Heathens rare bonus point win against Kobs sends out a stern warning, the defending champions are not about to surrender their title without a fight.Flanker Robert Seguya opened Heathens scoring through a try on the overlap after a good turn over ball by Scott '300' Oluoch.Both sides missed several try scoring opportunities most notably Kobs Captain Timothy Mudoola who was a constant menace but some desperate Heathens defending saw Kobs only walk away with a Joel Anguyo penalty for the half to end Heathens 5 Kobs 3. In the second half Heathens shifted gears with replacement full back Brian Tabaruka,flanker Mathias Ochwo and center Michael Wokorach putting the final nail in the Kobs coffin.The last try was scored with Heathens one man down.Winger Jude Kerrmundu and fly half Benon Kizza both converted one conversion and a penalty each for Heathens.The game was a very rough encounter with many incidents of dirty play at the break down that eventually culminated in a red card for Heathens prop Arthur Mukama for retaliating with a punch that rocked a Kobs player. Play of the day: Heathens full back Bishop Onen's razzle dazzle.In a water logged pitch it is difficult to do the champagne stuff. Bishop Onen had other ideas.He got under a pressure high ball with a host of Kobs players bearing down on him at the speed of knots;incredibly he did not even call the 'mark' but landed on his feet,went skidding to the right,seemingly off balance but incredibly regained balance-that alone had 2 players beaten.Then begun the fancy footwork,a step off the right and left foot,two(clockwise and anti clockwise) 360 degree spins and he had amazingly left 5 players for dead and had covered 25 meters!This brought the crowd to their feet ,showing their appreciation by giving him a standing ovation Incident of the game: In a highly charged encounter like this tempers are bound to flare and Arthur Mukama's(Heathens) left hook punch on ironically-by virtue of the title of his position- Kobs replacement 'hooker' Kimono would have made even Floyd Mayweather envious.However such behaviour even when retaliating has no place in a rugby game.His red card was justified. Man of the match: 8th man Scott '300' Oluoch who was named MVP of the 2009 season by fanzone magazine and USPA showed why he deserved those awards by putting in an excellent display of power,technique and control.He had an outstanding work rate,turned over many crucial balls,broke countless tackles to beat the gain line.He was a constant menace every time he got the ball and Kobs struggled to contain his bullocking runs.With URU awards ceremony round the corner it will be a surprise if he is not named MVP for the 2009 season.Knowing URU,one can never be too sure as evidenced by the broad day light robbery of Felix Lubega for the 2008 season MVP award. Pirates return to winning ways while Impis notch second league win Two tries from Dennis Etuket,one from Moses Soita and Oscar Opio were enough to hand Entebbe Mongers their second successive defeat.Pirates carried a 17-03 lead going into the half.Mongers have been very poor travelers and will now look to their game against a wounded Kobs in Entebbe in the hope they can stop their fading title hopes.Hima Impis though denied a bonus point win subdued Nile with a 20-03 win at their grave yard grounds.Rhinos edged Buffaloes 5-0 at Kyadondo in a closely contested match. Walk overs in Reserve league Kyadondo reserve sides KK Stallions and Buffaloes II got walk over wins over Boks and Pirates II. Upsets in the Shield Gulu notched a memorable victory in their first visit to Kampala by upsetting Summerkamp 15-8 at Kampala RUFC.The shield was reformatted to give upcountry clubs regular competition and they have taken the opportunity with both hands as evidenced by this win over Kampala based Summerkamp.Lira Bulls got their first win at home by defeating the Mbale based elephants.Perhaps this was a consolation after their football side Boro Boro FC was banned from hosting soccer matches by FUFA for the entire season for crowd violence and man handling of the referee.It is our prayer such thuggish behaviour does not occure in a gentleman's sport like rugby. We got some predictions correct though not 100% accurate.Pirates,Rhinos,Impis,Lira won as predicted but Gulu elephants devied all odds to win in Kampala and Kobs lost by a bonus point!In the reserves Boks and Pirates II were no shows giving Stallions and Buffaloes II walk over victories. PS.Who ever is doing the league tables and other statistics ought to get their act right.Since the league started the league tables have been embarrassingly wrong and to imagine this is emanating from the Union secretariat is a disgrace.This problem ought to be rectified pronto otherwise we will end up in the same end of season mess of the 2007 season that led to a mini revolt.Does URU ever learn from it's mistakes???!!!!
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The yellow submarines continue their dominance by crushing old rivals and former champions Kobs in an entertaining match played on a wet and soggy pitch