Rayon Sports coach Julien Mette has called on his players to improve their performance after falling 1-0 short at the hands of visiting Bugesera FC in the first leg of the Peace Cup held at Kigali Pele Stadium on Wednesday, April 17.

The French was left frustrated by his team’s ‘below par’ performance which cost them the game in the first leg thanks to a first half strike from Farouk Ssentongo.

"This was a bad result for a big club and it was a must win for us but we didn't deserve the victory because the performance was not convincing at all. I’m sure we can play far better than we did today,” Mette said.

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"Against Bugesera in the return leg, it is going to be really tough, which is why we need total focus because, if we don’t, we will be punished,” he added

Meanwhile, Bugesera FC head coach Francis Haringingo said his team can’t be carried away with their impressive display in the first leg and warned his players that the tie is not over yet with the Burundian aware of the threat the Blues can bring to his team in the second leg.

"We’re happy with our performances, but we’re not getting carried away by these results, we have to focus on every game that we have ahead of us,” he said.

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Bugusera FC’s hopes of winning their first Peace Cup ever as they have Haringingo who knows how to win the competition. He won it twice with Mukura VS in 2019 and with Rayon Sports in 2023.

"The most important thing for us is to test our level against the top guys. We want first to remain in top division but also our target is to win Peace Cup title," he said.

The second leg will take place at Bugesera Stadium on April 24.