End of the road

As Rayon conspires to fail Tusker test Tusker 0 (7) - 0 (6) Rayon Sport Yanga 2-0 Vital’O DAR ES SALAAM - Rwanda’s hopes of having one of her two teams progress to the semi-finals of the on-going Cecafa/Kagame cup ended yesterday with the elimination of Rayon Sport by Kenya’s Tusker Fc in a game that ended in a dramatic penalty kick 7-6. The ninety minutes ended 0-0 with Rayon Sport enjoying superior domination. The 1998 Cecafa club championship winners will have themselves to blame for not pulling away the numerous chances that came their way. Also a naïve substitution of Webo Lawrence for the out standing Vladimir Niyonkuru by coach Raoul Shungu in anticipation for the spot kicks very late into second half proved to be worthless as the perceived best penalty stopper of the duo failed to pay off as the Kenyan was a total waste in the time when was needed most. All but one Tusker penalty takers got past their countryman while Rayon had two missed kicks. It was Kalisa Kase, the perceived team’s star man and Oliver Uwingaire, who failed to score in the spot kicks thus handing the four-time champions a date with Tanzania’s Yanga, who beat Burundi ’s Vital’O 2-0 in the last quarter-final fixture played at the same venue later on. Rayon is the second and last Rwandan team after 2007 champions APR to be eliminated at the quarter-final stage in a space of 48 hours. The champions were beaten 2-0 by Tanzania’s other representatives Simba. Rayon will have themselves to blame for not beating the Kenyans as their strikers, first Jean Lomami and Rogers Kakoko conspired to waste the numerous chances that came their way in the opening 45 minutes. In the second half, Shungu introduced Rogers Tuyisenge for the wasteful Aphrodis Hategekimana but the former Marine and APR player failed to bring the usual spike to the team. Tuyisenge failed to link with Lomami, who was playing as the lead striker in Shungu’s formation. Action continues today with the first semifinal when 2007 losing finalists URA take on Simba at 3pm local time. URA, last year’s losing finalists were the first to pick their semi-final slot after hitting Miembeni from Zanzibar 2-0 in a clash. Simba’s chance came immediately after when they hit a 10-man APR with a similar margin. The second semi-final is tomorrow when Tanzania’s Yanga Africans take on Tusker. The final and the third place playoff are scheduled for Sunday 27 at National stadium, Dar es Salaam. It’s the first time in five years that APR have failed to reach at least the last four of this championship having won it in 2004, beaten by Uganda’s Villa in the 2005 final, lost to Moro United at the semi-final in 2006 and they’ve gone out as defending champions. Ends

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End of the road