NAIROBI, Kenya December 8 – A late goal courtesy of Geoffrey Baba Kizito sealed the CECAFA Tusker Challenge Cup title for hosts Uganda Cranes in the finals, beating Harambee Stars 2-1 at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
Tension dictated most of the match after Uganda took the lead at the 27th minute after Stars captain Anthony Kimani gifted the defending champions their first goal after turning the ball into his own net.
Kimani obstructed a Robert Ssentongo cross before beating Duncan Ochieng in the Stars goal before Kenya leveled the scores through Edwin Lavasta in the 87th minute after a pass from substitute Paul Were.
With spot kicks looming Cranes had the last laugh after a swift attack led to Abdallah Juma handling the ball at the edge of the area as they celebrated their record 13th triumph.
Kizito headed the winner to send the Cranes fans into an ecstatic frenzy after free kick from Ssentongo.
Earlier, Stars players went on strike demanding settlement of their remaining allowances, prompting Sports Minister, Ababu Namwamba and Football Kenya Federation president, Sam Nyamweya to intervene and the team accepted to take on to the pitch for the decider.
Nyamweya reportedly said the winnings from the tournament where Uganda pocketed Sh2.5m would be used to offset pending arrears.
This was Harambee Stars 12th time to take part in the finals winning five, twog on post match penalties and lost six times.
Zanzibar settled for third place after beating Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro Stars 6-5 on post-match penalties in the play offs.
