Atraco set up Rayon semis

Quarter-final results (second leg)Atraco 1-0 PoliceOverall aggregate Atraco 2-0 Police Semi-finals (first leg)APR v Mukura-todayAtraco v Rayon Sport-Monday ATRACO kept their hopes for a treble intact after romping into the semi-finals of this year’s MTN Peace Cup. The 2009 CECAFA champions defied exhaustion from the demanding two-week tournament in Sudan by securing a 1-0 victory over Police yesterday afternoon at Nyamirambo stadium. Johnson Bagoole scored Atraco’s goal, two minutes after half time. In the opening minutes, fatigue took its tall on Atraco players and Police striker Jackson Nkurikiye almost capitalised on it when he out-paced a flat-footed Atraco defence only to be denied by goal keeper Jean Luc Ndayishimiye. Atraco’s inform striker Hamis Kitagenda had the team’s best chance in the first half but was denied by Police goalkeeper Aboubacar Burhari. Sam Timbe’s half-time talk seemed to have worked to full effect as Johnson Bagoole put Atraco ahead on the 47th minute. The Ugandan international’s 20-yard strike proved decisive to set up a semi-final clash with Rayon Sport. Yesterday’s result means that Atraco progressed with a 2-0 goal aggregate having registered a 1-0 win in the first leg. Despite the win, Timbe reckons that the next one-week is going to be very challenging. “Of course it would be a great achievement for Atraco to win a treble but like I said, it is too early to starting talking about it,” the Ugandan tactician said. “I think it is going to be very tough for us because we have three very important games in a space of six days.” “My prayer is that the players don’t get injured,” he noted.After winning the Cecafa/ Kagame Cup, Atraco are widely tipped to retain the national league title and also challenge Rayon Sport and APR for the MTN Peace Cup. APR, who smacked Atraco in last year’s MTN Peace Cup final (4-0) take on a resilient Mukura side in the first leg of the semi-finals this afternoon at Nyamirambo stadium. Two points adrift of Atraco on the league table, APR know that their best chance of silverware lies in the MTN Peace Cup. APR have a slight confidence advantage over the Southern province side after storming the semi-finals with a gigantic goal aggregate (7-0) while Mukura held onto a 3-2 goal aggregate advantage despite losing out to SC Kiyovu 1-2 in the second leg of the quarter-finals. Ends

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Atraco set up Rayon semis