Jinja Hippos came from a 10-00 to remind Walukuba Barbarians of who the Jumbo is in Jinja, with full back Yasin Wasswa kicking 14 points and scoring one try.
In an end-to-end first half that saw two of the youngest teams grace the pitch, it was Gift Wokorach the promising number ten who got the first points, a solo try from Ivan Bulime that was later converted by Gift taking Walukuba to a deserved lead.
The Hippos who were pushed on by their clamorous fans played catch up and in a few minutes, the game was a 10 all with a penalty kick from Yasin and a hard-fought try from Andrew Odhiambo that was well converted by Yasin’s clinical boot.
The hard flanker Andrew Odhiambo bundled over to give Hippos the lead for the first time making it 15-10 though this was short-lived as Ivan Bulime took matters into his own hands and made a solo run to level the game before Shakim Ssembuusi converted to return lead.
Gift Wokorach again punished the Hippos for their indiscipline to give Walukuba a first-half cushion of 20-15 before the referee called it off.
The Hippos made their corrections at the break with the big forward Eliphaz Emong coming on to steady the pack as Meddie Bagalana switched to the wing to give way to a young and promising inside centre Owen Mugogo (MOTM as Hippos beat Kobs) to make his magic.
The substitutions did not take ages to pay back as Meddie Bagalana crossed the whitewash with an easy try from a layoff by Owen Mugogo. The conversion was beautifully made by Yasin Wasswa to grant Hippos the lead.
The Jinja Hippos were not done as Andrew Odhiambo extended the lead to 27 points before Yasin pushed it to 29 points.
Then what looked like a comfortable lead was cut short by a Shakim Ssembuusi penalty to make it 23-29 before Yasin penalized the Barbarians again for their barbaric acts to make it 23-32.
Yasin Waisswa later extended the Hippos’ lead with a beautiful run to make it 23-37 and then split the uprights to give Hippos a comfortable 23-39 lead.
The Barbarians had some fight left in them and they used it to make a last-minute try that they failed to convert leaving the game at 28-39.
The remainder of the game saw the Hippos pegged in their half to defend their lines as the Barbarians dominated possession in the fight to get a losing bonus point, before the referee, Wutimber said he was tired.
The Jinja Hippos will welcome perennial rivals, the Platinum Credit Heathens at Dam waters on Saturday, 17th February 2024 in what we believe will be a mouth-watering encounter.
1 comment
Wow liked reading through,,Good work here.😊