Jan. 27Day 2 fixturesAS Kigali vs APR FCRayon Sports vs Police SaturdayAPR FC 0-1 Police FCRayon Sports 0-0 AS Kigali

After beating APR 1-0, hopefuls Police FC head coach Innocent Seninga admitted that his team have a chance to rectify what didn’t go right last year as they seek to win the 2018 Heroes Cup.

Ten-man Police FC edged holders APR FC 1-0 in the opening match of this year’s tournament while Rayon Sports and AS Kigali drew 0-0 at Amahoro National Stadium on Saturday.

Seninga admitted that his team were better on the day and deserved to win ahead of the next match against Azam Rwanda Premier League champions Rayon Sports on Jan, 27.

"I think we deserved the victory because we were the better team against a very good APR side, now we need to stay focused and try to win the remaining two matches against Rayon Sports and AS Kigali,” Seninga said after Saturday’s win.

Midfielder Hussein Habimana scored the only goal in the match in 45+1.

Seninga added that, "We had a target to win the first game and now that we have achieved it, I believe we can go on and achieve the overall objective (win to the four-team tournament), because it is our opportunity to win a trophy.”

The former SC Kiyovu and Etincelles coach disclosed that winning the Heroes Cup would boost their confidence to go for more silverware including Peace Cup and Azam Rwanda Premier League.

His opposite number of APR FC, Jimmy Mulisa, said that, "We’re definitely disappointed to lose because it always feels bad to lose but I expect a better performance in the matches against AS Kigali and Rayon Sports.”

"The tournament is a good opportunity to look at the new players that we have brought in this month. Today (Saturday) we didn’t play as well as we wanted because Police defended well, we couldn’t behind their backline,” Mulisa admitted.

Police FC were reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Emmanuel Bwanakweli was sent off by referee Jean Paul Ngabonziza in the 35th minute after a bad tackle on APR striker League Byiringiro outside the box.

Meanwhile, Rayon Sports played goalless draw against AS Kigali in second game of the tournament.

Rayon Sports, without head coach Olivier Karekezi, who is in Sweden for family reason, dominated proceedings and created numerous opportunities.

The Heroes’ Cup is organized by the Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honour (CHENO) to mark the national Heroes’ Day that falls on February 1.

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