Heroes’ Day Cup

Wednesday

APR FC 1-0 Rayon Sports

Rayon Sports’ failure to convert their chances after a 1-0 loss to their bitter rivals APR FC in the inaugural Heroes’ Day Cup match on Wednesday at Amahoro National Stadium has left coach Djuma Masudi a disappointed man.

Despite dominating the 90 minutes, wasteful finishing saw Rayon Sports lose to their rivals for the second time in a space of just 10 days and the third in a row from their last three meetings.

APR FC came into the game eyeing a win to maintain their impressive record over Rayon while the Blues were hoping for vengeance following the recent poor record and to give their loyal fans something to cheer about.

However, Rayon Sports were denied their quest for revenge by centre back Herve Rugwiro, who guided home a Patrick Sibomana’s low corner kick after just 10 minutes.

"We played very well compared to the last game, my players gave all they could, we controlled the game, we created chances but we failed to score, we were simply unlucky, nothing else. It’s difficult to take but we have to accept defeat and move on,” a visibly disappointed Masudi said after the match.

While Jimmy Mulisa started with the same team that beat Rayon ten days earlier, Masudi made several changes, some quite strange.

He started with his two new signings including left back Abouba Sibomana and centre back Gabriel Mugabo, while Evariste Mutuyimana started in goal instead of first choice Eric ‘Bakame’ Ndayishimiye.

Masudi noted that, "The one common factor with both goals, is that in both matches, we took long to settle, conceded in the early stages and then failed to take our chances. This is something that we need to work on before the CAF Confederation Cup campaign.”

This was the third defeat for Rayon Sports against APR, who won 3-0 in their pre-season tournament encounter in September, last year.

On top of the trophy, reigning league champions APR FC also walked away with a cheque of Rwf3m while Rayon Sports got Rwf1.5m.

The 2017 Heroes’ Day Cup edition was organised by the Chancellery for Heroes, National Order and Decoration of Honour (CHENO) to mark this year’s Heroes’ Day celebrations that took place on February 1.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw