A second half goal from Aboubakar Mayanja aided Uganda a 1-0 semifinal victory over Rwanda at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium, on Tuesday to book a ticket to the final of the 2023 CECAFA U18 Championship.
Both teams started the game brightly as they made incursions into the opponent's half. Rwanda looked a more relaxed side as Jean Baptiste Kayiranga played tactically with skipper Kennedy Hoziana dictating the pace of the game.
Uganda were playing with much pace with the attacking pair of Travis Mutyaba and Richard Okello causing problems for the Rwandan back four.
The major chance of the first half fell to Mutyaba in the 32nd minute as the young attacker beat Abdoul Niyigena to the ball but saw his strike saved by shot stopper Yvan Ruhamyanyiko without whom Rwanda could have conceded at least two goals before the half time break.
ALSO READ: CECAFA U18: Sibomana’s winner powers 10-man Rwanda past Somalia
The Rwandan shot stopper was at it again in the 36th minute as he saved Okello's effort.
Kayiranga’s men launched a quick counter attack in the 40th minute but the Ugandans tracked back and recovered. Both sides created some dangerous chances but neither managed to break the deadlock as the first half ended goalless.
Both teams made changes to beef up their attack after the break. Rwanda brought on Jean Paul Irakoze for Pascal Iradukunda whereas Uganda also had Ssembatya Ssonko replaced by Ronald Kaye.
Rwandan defenders went to sleep in the 56th minute as the Uganda bombarded their penalty area. Abasi Kyeyune hit a shot inside the 18-yard box which Ruhamyanyiko saved but his defenders failed to clear the danger only for Aboubakar Mayanja to poke in the rebound to give Uganda a 1-0 lead.
Despite conceding the goal, Ruhamyanyiko put up arguably man of the match performance as he pulled as many as five stunning saves to prevent an aggressive Uganda side from increasing the tally.
Uganda pinned Rwanda to their own half during the last 10 minutes of the match the young goalkeeper remained the wall in the goal, first denying Hakim Mutebi with a fabulous save in the 82nd minute before saving Aboubakar Mayanja's goal bound strike three minutes later to keep the scores at 1-0.
Uganda never ceased to attack despite leading the scores but Rwanda chose to defend to avoid conceding more goals while at the same building on counter attacks until the referee blew his final whistle with a 1-0 victory in favor of Uganda.
Uganda will face either host Kenya or Tanzania who are playing another semifinal match on Tuesday afternoon at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium.