CECAFA U18: Uganda beat Zanzibar to leave Group B wide open

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 CECAFA U18 BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 

With one final round of group action remaining before the knockout stage of the CECAFA U18 Boys Championship 2023 kicks off, Group B makes for interesting reading.

All the four teams — Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar and South Sudan — are still very much in it.

From the two out of three groups games played so far, each of these sides has won one match and lost the other.

On match day two (Wednesday) in the Kenyan town of Kakamega, South Sudan came from a goal down to beat Tanzania 2-1 in the early kickoff.

The Tanzanians had won their opening game 1-0 against Uganda last Sunday while the South Sudanese had started their campaign with a 0-1 defeat to Zanzibar.

In Wednesday's second Group B game, Uganda arrived to face Zanzibar knowing all too well that any result short of a win in their favour would all but squash their title ambitions.

In the end, head coach Morley Byekwaso's boys needed a stroke of luck to bag the all-important three points to leave the group wide open.

In that duel, Travis Mutyaba put Uganda in front with a long-range strike in the opening half.

In the last eight minutes of the first half, Zanzibar twice had the ball in the back of the Ugandan net, but both goals were disallowed for offside. Those two incidents sandwiched Moh'd Ali Moh'd equalizer that was the work of a sleek transition from the Zanzibari half after Mutyaba lost possession.

That was Moh'd's second of this campaign, having scored the lone winner against South Sudan in their opening game.

In the second half, both sides searched for the winner in a physical encounter that required a water break in either half. The breakthrough came, with Uganda the beneficiary of a cruel Zanzibar own goal that sealed the scoreline.

Next up, Uganda face South Sudan while Tanzania and Zanzibar lock horns to decide which two teams from this group advance to next week's semifinals.

Speaking of the last-four, so far, hosts Kenya are the only team to advance to the semis following their 1-0 win over Rwanda in Tuesday's Group A match in Kisumu.

Somalia beat Sudan 3-0 in the other game, which leaves either Somalia and Rwanda with the realistic chance of securing the second semi-final spot from Group A. Sudan have lost their two games played so far.

This two-week tournament that began last Saturday ends next Friday (December 8).

The Group A games are being played at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu while the Group B matches are played some 50 kilometres away at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega.

All the knockout games will be played in Kisumu.

This competition of the region's budding players has so far produced a total of 18 goals across eight matches. Of these, Sudan has conceded eight goals — their heaviest defeat a 0-5 result against Kenya.

It is a three-way tie at the top of the goalscoring charts. Kenyan duo Adrine Kibet and Louise Ingavi and Tanzania's Moh'd each have netted two goals.