Tuesday

Peace Cup final

APR                              1-0        Espoir

Third place playoff

Rayon Sports            3-0        Amagaju FC

APR head coach Jimmy Mulisa has saluted his players after winning the 2017 Peace Cup for a record 9th time on Tuesday after beating Espoir FC 1-0 at Stade de Kigali, Nyamirambo.

Following a very unconvincing display in the just-concluded season which saw the former champions finish third behind Rayon Sports and Police, the military side were desperate to end the season on a high by qualifying for next year’s CAF Confederation Cup.

They made no mistake and overcame Rusizi-based Espoir FC with Djihad Bizimana netting the lone goal that gave APR the much-needed victory.

"This is one of the best moments I have had since I joined the club as coach, I am happy with my players. They gave their best to win this title. I think with the way we have played in this tournament, we have shown that we have improved,” Mulisa said.

"We have paid back our fans who have been patient with us. We are going to keep working together and team work will help us to achieve more,” he added

Meanwhile, his Espoir FC counterpart, Jimmy Ndizeye, who had guided the club to their first ever Peace Cup final, attributed the loss to errors, although he applauded his players for having managed to reach such a stage in the Cup competition.

"We played well, generally, we made one defensive error and we were punished. If you are playing against a team like APR, you need to minimise mistakes and we tried to do that, but we made a mistake once and were punished,” said Ndizeye.

However, Ndizeye said he was grateful for the determination that the boys exhibited despite being the underdogs.

On top of the trophy and a ticket to represent the country in next year’s CAF Confederation Cup, APR also walked away with Rwf10m in cash prize while Espoir bagged Rwf5m.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw