SundayRayon Sports vs SC Kiyovu 3:30pmMusanze FC vs Bugesera

FridayMukura 1-2 Police FC

After securing his first league triumph of the season with a 2-1 victory against Mukura on Friday at Huye stadium, Police FC head coach Innocent Seninga has admitted that the win was a must in order to avoid early pressures.

With that victory that will surely ease the growing list of questions regarding Seninga’s suitability for the job, Police FC kept their winning record against Huye-based Mukura for the sixth year in a row.

After goalless first half, striker Isaie Songa put Police ahead in the 63rd minute after a good cross from Amini Muzerwa, who came on as a second half substitute for Yves Manishimwe.

Last season’s third top scorer with 15 league goals, Justin Mico, opened his account for this campaign netting the second goal seven minutes later, while David Nshimirimana pulled one back for the home team in the 80th minute.

"We failed to score in the first half and towards the end of the half, I study the game and decided that I to make changes in the second half, which is why I brought on Amini (Mwizerrw) to press them, I think we managed to play better in second period, that’s why we won” a relieved Seninga told Times Sport.

Former Isonga, SC Kiyovu and Etincelles trainer, added, "We defended well in the first half to limit Mukura’s chances, but after scoring two goals, we sort of sat back, which game them the opportunity to come at us, which resulted in their goal.”

"I must thank my players for the great work they did in winning what was a really tough game, Mukura, playing at their home, are very hard to play against, let alone beating them, today we got three important points, and we have to be happy.

"There is a lot more that we know we need to do to be at the level we need to be, yes we have not done well in recent matches but that is past, we need to forget about that and focus on next fixtures,” Seninga acknowledged.

His counterpart of Mukura, Francis Haringingo sadmited that, "We played very well in first half and created a couple of good chances, unfortunately we couldn’t take, which came back to haunt in the second half when we conceded two goals.”

"About our not-so-good record against Police FC for six years as people are saying, yes, these things happen in football when one team can’t win against a particular team, nonetheless we wanted to win, you all saw that, especially in the first half but our second half was a bit poor,” explained the Burundian.

Police FC’s last defeat against Mukura came way back in the 2011/2012 season under Emmanuel Ruremesha when they were beaten 2-1.

Seninga, in his second season with Police FC, did not win any silverware in his first year, but his bosses were impressed with what they saw and handed him another three-year contract.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw