Enterprise Cup: Black Pirates hold on to book final spot

A sluggish start to the Enterprise Cup semifinal fixture between Black Pirates and Nondescripts played in Uganda turned out to be a nail-bitter in the dying minutes of the game.

The Pirates were in charge of the affairs early on, retaining possession soon after kick off through Alex Aturinda, then getting a penalty advantage. William Nkore’s drop goal attempt was unsuccessful, but it was his penalty kick that gave the Pirates the lead in the beginning Stanzas of the game.

Even with the lead, the Pirates were still unsettled, which led to various mistakes in their half. The Nondies pulled back 3 points through Kelvin Sheunda to level the score before the water break, but after that, those mistakes came back to haunt them again. Timothy Kisiga’s efforts to skip through the oncoming Nondies were not enough as he offloaded off to Conrad Wanyama, whose exit kick was charged down, leading to a Tony Fidens try, and a Sheunda conversion.

The Pirates were determined to close the gap soon after conceding, pressing the Nondies in their 22. This paid off when they quick started on a penalty through Wanyama, and then some quick hands from the Pirates backline that saw them use the full width of the pitch via Timothy Kisiga and Davis Shimwa then ultimately to Jeremiah Okello who scored in the corner.

In the second half, the Pirates recovered from a Nkore touch finder that went dead, when Roy Kizito collected and shipped the ball off to Kisiga. Another crucial phase from Kizito saw rhe Pirates push forward, and that gave Aturinda the opportunity to push forward and work his magic for the first try of the half. 

With a slim 5 point lead, the Pirates were not yet safe so their second try came as a relief. On scrum penalty advantage, Aturinda pick the ball up and passed to Wanyama who went all the way to the try line. Again, Nkore couldn’t convert from the tee.

At that point, the Pirates started hanging on for dear life, and they did such a good job at it, that they only conceded one converted try to bring the score to 20-17. Elisha Koronya’s try and Fidens’ conversion were not enough to upstage a Pirates side that’s determined to win the Enterprise Cup.

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