Busoga thumps Bugisu in the opening tie of the Drum competition

Drum results
Busoga 3 Bugisu 0
Ankole 2 Toro 1
Teso 8 Sebei 0
Karamoja 1 West Nile 1
Bunyoro 2 Rwenzori 2
Acholi 2 Lango 0
Buganda 0 Kigezi 1
Bukedi 0 Kampala 1

Busoga Province thrashed their Bugisu counterparts 3-0 in the opening match of the FUFA Drum tournament that has drawn controversy in the football fraternity.

The FUFA Inter Provinces competition, named The Drum, was reecntly launched following a resolution of the FUFA assembly.

It features 16 provinces demarcated according to the country's respective tribes.

However, the football fraternity has been critical of its objectives and timing following FUFA's directive to include Uganda Premier League (UPL) and FUFA Big League (FBL) players.

A majority of the clubs are disturbed by the fact that the competition, intended for tapping talent, is instead utilising established players —not forgetting the increasing demands of Premier League and Big League competitions.

On Saturday, It is UPL stars that decided the opening match.

UPL stars stand out Police left winger Aggrey Madoi produced a stunning moment when he provided two assists for BUL FC‘s duo forwards Hamis Tibita (12th minute) and Richard Wandyaka.

But man of the match was second half substitute Joel Madondo, who gave the visitors backline a nightmare with his pace and trickery when he wrapped up the score after 77 minutes as Busoga captained by Cranes defender Isaac Isinde, won their opening match with 3-0 win in Group A.

Among the crowd was Busoga Province's patron and Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga who could not hide her joy after her team registering its first win of the campaign.

FUFA president Moses Magogo was delighted to see many soccer fans coming up to attend the opening match.

"Its a good value to see such a big crowd turn up to watch such a historic match. We decided to make it an open tournament for all players in any region so as to witness senior players do a good role of serving as examples to guide the young and upcoming ones on the
scene,'' said Magogo.

BUL FC goalkeeping coach Bright Dhaira was delighted to see FUFA's innovation.

"Such tournaments will enable many top clubs to identify hidden talents,'' said Dhaira.