Police FC seek to bounce back in Cup quarterfinal

Police FC head coach Innocent Seninga has said that everyone at the club is confident they can reach the Peace Cup semi-finals by stunning Rayon Sports when the teams come up against each other for the second time in the space of four days, today, for the second leg of the competition despite a disappointing first leg result.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017
Police striker Danny Usengimana tries to dribble past Rayon players during a recent league game. (Sam Ngendahimana)

Wednesday

Peace Cup Quarter finals

Second leg

Rayon Sports     vs      Police             3:30pm

Espoir                  vs      Marines

Thursday

APR                      vs      Bugesera      3:30pm

AS Kigali             vs      Amagaju

Police FC head coach Innocent Seninga has said that everyone at the club is confident they can reach the Peace Cup semi-finals by stunning Rayon Sports when the teams come up against each other for the second time in the space of four days, today, for the second leg of the competition despite a disappointing first leg result.

The 2015 Peace Cup winners will visit Rayon Sports at Stade de Kigali with a 2-goal deficit from last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat but Seninga insists the law-enforcers’ side can pull off a comeback and even knock the Blues out of the competition "if only my players can stick to our plan”.

Shassir Nahimana and Jean d’Amour Nzayisenga scored the goals for the Blues who are fresh from winning this season’s league title. This means Police need to register at least a 3-0 win to progress to the semi-finals.

"We will go into the game looking for nothing less than a win and we believe we can achieve our target and reach the next stage. We have to correct our mistakes and stick to our game plan,” Seninga said.

In the other quarterfinal game scheduled today, Marines FC, who were held to a 1-all draw by Espoir FC at Umuganda Stadium on Sunday, will visit Espoir in Rusizi for the second leg.

Meanwhile, on Monday, APR secured a 2-0 away win over Bugesera FC to edge closer to the last four, thanks to goals from Djihad Bizimana and Innocent Nshuti.

In the other quarterfinal tie played Monday, Amagaju drew 1-1 with As Kigali.

The second legs fixtures for both ties are set Thursday this week.

The semi-final round is slated for June 28 while the final is due July 4.

The eventual winners will represent Rwanda in the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup.

But if holders Rayon Sports successfully defend their title then Police FC will represent the country in the Confederation Cup by virtue of having finished in second place (behind Rayon Sports) in the just-concluded 2016/17 Azam Rwanda Premier League season.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw