Joseph Dhata’s hat-trick, accompanied by goals from Kavuma Marvin and Gaddafi, secured a comfortable 5-1 win, guaranteeing NEC FC a spot in the Round of 16 for this year’s edition.
Nearly Perfect First Half:
With the scoreline reading 4-0 at halftime, one would have expected this to be described as a perfect half, but the boys could have even scored double that number.
Within just 3 minutes after kickoff, Kayanja narrowly missed a chance to give us the lead off a well-weighed cross from Dhata, and moments later Dhata had a cross just wide with no precision.
In the 7th minute, Kavuma’s shot was cleared off the line to keep the game level as the boys pushed for an opener after Kayanja had intercepted a clearance from the goalkeeper.
Within the first 10 minutes, Acholi United had resisted conceding, but with a lot of pressure, they could not hold it any longer as Joseph Dhata, with his trademark goal, opened the scoring, this time with a left shot.
In a space of seven minutes, Dhata doubled the lead as we kept pressing with a dominant display. Kaye set up Wahab for our third for him to open up his scoring account at his new home. Kavuma Marvin, the captain, ended the nearly perfect first half with a perfect shot, expertly taken and with utmost precision to make it 4-0 and send us into the break.
The Second Half:
At the restart of the interval, Mbalangu made a triple change to his side, resting Kiyemba, Wahab, and Kaye to pave the way for Innocent, Mugalu, and Kiberu, respectively.
Acholi United started the second half full of momentum and managed a consolation in the 54th minute after moments of dominance. However, NEC had done the damage in the first half. Dhata, in the 70th minute, scored our fifth goal to end the tie in a 5-1 victory after the 90, securing our place in the Round of 16.
NEC remains with only 19 Zakayos.
The second half saw Dhata complete his hat trick, the first he has registered at NEC FC. This hat trick made Joseph Dhata the first-ever player to take home Zakayo, the official FUFA Matchday Ball that has just been newly introduced.
With each StarTimes UPL club given 25 balls with 20 dedicated to the senior team, Dhata made sure the governing body sends a replacement or NEC FC buys one as he scored the first recorded hat trick since the introduction of the Official FUFA Matchday Ball, Zakayo. It’s yet to be revealed who replaces the award of the ball.
Team News
Kiberu, Asiimwe, Waswa, Tevin and Mugalu were all used substitutes.
What’s Next:
We await information from the organizers as to when the draws for the Round of 16 shall be held.