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 2024 CAF SCHOOLS CHAMPS: CECAFA QUALIFIERS 

 FINAL RESULT 
Kenya 1-2 Uganda
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After their triumphant exhibition at the zonal qualifiers in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Uganda's representatives Kawempe Muslim Secondary School will represent the CECAFA region at the CAF African Schools Championship due next year.

To achieve this at the first time of asking, coach Moses Nkata's side had to shake off four teams in the girls category across three days of the qualification competition at Kasarani Stadium.

Eventually, the girls' race featuring hosts Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi and played in a round-robin format — with the top two teams facing off in Wednesday's final — got whittled down to a familiar final duel.

In only under a week, Uganda and Kenya have faced off for the second time in a CECAFA final.

The dust had not yet fully settled after an exhilarating CECAFA U18 Boys Championship climaxed last Friday with Uganda beating Kenya 2-1 in the final in Kisumu city.

Then on Wednesday, five days later, the two neighbours were in a final showdown once again — this time to decide who would represent CECAFA region in the girls category at next year's continental schools championship scheduled for April.

At Kasarani Stadium, it was a back-to-back meeting of Uganda and Kenya, having faced each other in their last placement game on Tuesday. The eventual victory for Uganda got them to the summit of the table, with Kenya, who had already progressed to the final before kickoff, settling for second place.

After 40 minutes of exhausting football under Nairobi's early afternoon heat, Uganda rose to the top in a 2-1 result.

But they had to claw their back after falling behind two minutes into the game after goalkeeper Huda Ayikoru was beaten from a freekick.

The Ugandans once again had to look to their charismatic captain Shadia Nabirye, who pulled them back to level terms with a precise strike in the first half.

Both sides returned for the 20-minute second half intent on pulling away, and it was Kawempe Muslim who capitalized on poor Kenyan defending to score a second through Shaluwa Bitini.

And that would be it, as Uganda inflicted yet another defeat on Kenya to confirm their spot in next year's CAF African Schools Championship carrying the CECAFA flag.

The equalizing goal by Nabirye took her tally to five, wrapping up as the tournament's topscorer in the girls category.

Coming up next also this afternoon, unbeaten Uganda will battle against Tanzania in the final for the boys category spot.

How Uganda did it

First-timers Kawempe Muslim got their qualification campaign off to a drab start on Monday, a goalless draw against Alliance High School of Tanzania not giving the Ugandan side the sort of momentum they had desired.

But Nkata's girls returned on the second day of action firing on all cylinders, winning all their three games on the day to advance to the final.

First, they made quick work of Burundi, with skipper Nabirye scoring a hat-trick and Cynthia Kirenga also on target in a 4-0 result that provided a huge statement of intent to their next opponents.

The Ugandan side kept the pedal to the metal as they went on to brush aside Rwanda 3-0 in their subsequent game. Nabirye scored again to bump up her goals tally to four to become the tournament's topscorer in the girls category.

Lydia Namaseruka and Tracy Nabalanzi was also on the scoresheet against Rwanda.

Kawempe Muslim then sealed their spot in the final with a 1-0 victory over closest challengers Kenya, thanks to Haira Nabbosa's strike.

They made it to the final as the only unbeaten girls team, top of the standings with 10 points, eight goals scored and a clean sheet.

And once they got there against the hosts, the Ugandans were not to be denied, breaking Kenyan hearts once again.