Gicumbi and Esperance defied odds to earn promotion to the Primus National Football League, Rwanda’s top tier football competition at the expense of favourites Bugesera and Sunrise FC, respectively.
Semi finals, 2nd legSaturdayBugesera 1-2 Gicumbi [2-2]Sunrise 1-2 Esperance [1-3]Gicumbi and Esperance defied odds to earn promotion to the Primus National Football League, Rwanda’s top tier football competition at the expense of favourites Bugesera and Sunrise FC, respectively.The two achieved the feat after winning their semi-final second leg matches on Saturday. Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Gicumbi edged favourites Bugesera 2-1 to qualify on a 2-2 aggregate thanks to the away goal rule in a game played at Kicukiro ground.In Rwamagana, Esperance ensured their qualification to the topflight division for the first in their history with a 2-1 win over Sunrise to make it 3-1 on aggregate over the two legs.Bugesera and Sunrise were hot favourites to gain promotion after dominating Pool A and B respectively during the regular season. Both Gicumbi and Esperance are likely to take the places of Isonga FC and Etincelles, who occupy Primus league two relegation places with 15 points each.The final to decide the second division league champions (between Gicumbi and Esperance) will be played on May 26 at Amahoro National Stadium.