Over the weekend, residents of Masaka and surrounding areas were treated to a thrilling show of talent as Jinja S.S fought tirelessly to win their first Copa Coca-Cola trophy at Masaka Recreation Grounds.
The game which saw a Jinja S.S goal disallowed and a missed penalty from Kitende’s Pius Wangi all in the first half, ended with the former defeating the latter in a penalty shoot-out 4-3.
Jinja S.S scored the opening goal of the game in the second half through Joel Madondo in the 83rdminute, later followed by a goal from Kitende’s Kennedy Kasozi scored with only two minutes remaining. This equalizer took the game into the Spot-Kicks.
St Mary’s Kitende missed two of the spot-kicks and Jinja SS converted all four, emerging champions of the 25th edition of Copa Coca-Cola.
Commenting about the Victory, Jinja SS goal scorer Joel Madondo, said: “I would like to thank my teammates for the effort they put in during the tournament. It is a blessing that on our first time to reach the finals, we have emerged winners. Now we have set our sights on the East African trophy come August.”
Speaking after the thrilling final game, Mr. Rodney Nzioka, the Coca-Cola Uganda Brand Manager thanked Masaka S.S, the hosts, all the participating teams as well as the residents of Masaka and neighboring areas for an exciting two weeks.
“At Coca-Cola Uganda, we remain dedicated to the continued development of sports in Uganda right from the grassroots. We believe that with the right amount of motivation and dedication, we can turn the youth footballers from the COPA tournament to national and international football stars,” he concluded.
Jinja SS reached the finals after defeating Nakaseke in the semifinals and St Mary’s Kitende defeated the 2016 champions Kibuli SS in a game which was characterized by talent, pedigree and action.
St Julian’s Abdullah Ssenyonga was awarded an accolade for top scorer with 17 goals while the tournament MVP was Pius Wani from Jinja SS.
