UPL: BUL targets victory as they visit Gaddafi
Having come short in all games of the second round, BUL seek a first win in the second half of the season against Gaddafi FC on Wednesday when the neighbors meet in a pulsating Jinja derby at FUFA Technical Centre in Njeru.
BUL drew to Blacks Power and UPDF before losing to URA and SC Villa since the second round began, there by slipping off the title chasing patch and into the third place.
Simeon Masaba’s men are now six points behind leaders KCCA having won eight, drawn and lost five games apiece to collect 29 points from 18 rounds.
Whilst the results have not been coming BUL’s way, things have not been any better for Gaddafi.
The Soldier boys were held to a goalless draw last time out against Express, the 11th time they failed to win a game this season.
As a result, they dropped in the table standings as their 23 points from 17 matches can only be good for the tenth position.
Both sides settled for a 1-1 stalemate in the reverse fixture, with Gaddafi denying BUL the three points through Bakali Magumba when he cancelled out Ibrahim Kazindula’s penalty goal in the second half.
This will be the fourth league meeting between the two teams.
Ronald Otti remain on the sidelines due to an injury while the head coach revealed Jerome Kirya and Reagan Kalyowa will be subjected to late fitness tests to determine their availability for the game.
Derbies at times present the unthinkable but coach Simeon Masaba is expecting his side to come out unscathed.
“We started the second round badly, we even lost our last league game to SC Villa in Lira. But we have tried to correct the mistakes we did in the previous matches,” he said
“We have also prepared the boys very well to see that they can play this game brightly.“
“Ofcourse we know it’s a derby game, anything can happen and we come expecting the intensity of the game to be high but we are going to try to control the game so as to have it in our favor.”
In the three competitive meetings between BUL and Gaddafi, there has been one BUL win and two draws.
BUL’s nine home matches have produced six wins, two draws and one defeat – tallying 20 points from a possible 27, the fourth best home record in the league this campaign.
But the Eastern Giants have not won any of their four second round games, losing the last two 1-0 to URA FC and SC Villa.
Actually in eight league matches, BUL have won only one – when they beat Maroons 5-0 in December last year.
However, the Eastern Giants are unbeaten against Gaddafi after winning one game and drawing two of the three clashes between the sides.
Of the six goals scored in this fixture, BUL have four.
This season, Gaddafi have won and drawn one apiece, and lost six matches thus getting only four points from a possible 24 after playing eight away games.
The Soldier boys have also not won their last three matches, with their previous outing ending in a 0-0 draw with Express.
As a matter of fact, they have lost all their last five away matches.
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