Giants march on in Peace Cup

First roundAPR 1-0 Isonga SC Kiyovu 3-0 Intare Police 1-0 Espoir Amagaju 5-1 NURRayon Sports 5-0 Musanze Marines 1-0 Zebres AS Kigali 6-0 Kirehe La Jeunesse 5-1 Etoile de l’Est Etincelles 2-1 Esperance FC ASPOR 2-0 Gasabo United AS Muhanga 0-1 Unity SEC FC 0-0 SORWATHE SEC won on penalties (5-3)Mukura 1-1 Rwamagana City Mukura win 4-3 on penaltiesUnited Stars 2-2 NyanzaNyanza won on penalties (5-4)Pepiniere 1-1 Bugesera FC Bugesera won on penalties (5-4) THERE were no surprises in yesterday’s Peace Cup action as all the top sides put in strong performances at the preliminary round. Kiyovu strolled into the second round after a 3-0 win over Intare. Ugandan import Julius Bakabulindi scored a hat-trick. In the other game played at Kigali Regional Stadium, defending champions APR had to dig deep before securing a 1-0 victory over a resilient Isonga side. Burundian international Papy Fatty scored the only goal of the game mid-way through the first half. At Kamena stadium, last year’s finalists Police secured a 1-0 win after an own goal from one of Espoir’s defenders. Rayon Sport cruised to the round of 16 after a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Musanze at Umuganda stadium. Fuadi Ndayisenga and Cedric Amissi scored a brace each along with Bokota Labama capping a fine display with a late fifth goal. AS Kigali also put their Primus league problems on hold with an emphatic 6-0 win over Kirehe in Rwamagana. On top of Pablo Nduwimana’s brace, Peter Nshimiyimana, Innocent Habyarimana, Imran Nshimiyimana and Junior Tobola were also on target for the top flight side. La Jeunesse put Etoile de l’est to the sword with a compelling 5-1 win while Etincelles and Aspor also registered victories over Esperance (2-1) and Gasabo United (2-0) respectively. In other matches; Amagaju thumped the National University of Rwanda (UNR) 5-1 in Huye, Marines pipped Zebres 1-0 in Musanze, AS Muhanga went down 0-1 to Unity at Ferwafa while Mukura ejected Rwamagana City on penalties (4-3). The second round will be played on February 1. Last year, APR lifted their sixth Peace Cup title after beating Police 4-2 in the final. This year’s winner will earn a ticket to the 2013 Orange Confederation Cup. bonnie.mugabe@newtimes.co.rw