First-half scare, poor discipline not enough to stop Heathens charge

Heathens RFC defeated Victoria Sharks 41-26 in the first leg of the Uganda Rugby Premiership Playoff Quarterfinals on Friday at Kyadoondo.

The Yellow Machine came out all guns blazing when Nicholas Kato quick-started, caught the Victoria Sharks defense napping and scored in the first five minutes.

The Sharks managed to respond with a penalty, but a flurry of bad decisions and giving away possession cheaply kept them 4 points behind for a good chunk of that first half, until indiscipline crept in for the Heathens.

With a chance to close the gap to one point, the Sharks elected to go for a scrum against a 14-man Heathens side, who had lost Aaron Ofoyrwoth to the sin bin. That set piece was subsequently well defended, but sanity prevailed at the following infringement, when Israel Makhoha asked for the kicking tee, slotting in the penalty.

Just before the break, Maurice Ochieng scored a try, which was converted by Makhoha, before the flyhalf added a penalty. Heathens’ utility back Malcom Okello responded with a penalty of his own to bring the game to 16-10 at the half in favour of Sharks.

Sharks fail to capitalize on Heathens’ infringements

During the two sin bin incidents for the Heathens, the Sharks only managed to put 13 points on the board. Lawrence Ssebuliba and Aaron Ofoyrwoth were the unfortunate recipients of the yellow cards, but their absence on the pitch wasn’t punished by the sharks.

“There were so many mistakes made by the players on that pitch, especially when we got to the green zone where we have to compose ourselves and play,” Sharks coach Kevin Makmot said in the aftermath of the game.

On the other hand, the Heathens were unforgiving when they got into those dangerous areas. Outside back Joseph Oyet brought his season’s tally to 10 tries with a brace while Sylvester Munguacel and Aaron Ofoyrwoth both took advantage of poor defense from the Sharks backline.

When Michael Wokorach was introduced in the second half, the Heathens were only trailing by a single point, but his experience, coupled with the great chemistry he has with Ofoyrwoth, saw the first leg of the quarterfinal end in a 15-point advantage for the yellow machine.

The veteran center, turned loose forward, surely isn’t being missed in the backline, as Center, Innocent Gwokto is fitting in very well, even providing a cinematic assist to Nobert Okeny, who sliced through and scored his only try of the game.

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