Wednesday (quarter-finals)

North: Musanze 6-1 Mutobo

Kigali & South: Kigali 2-1 Nyanza

West: Rubavu 2-2 Nyabihu (Pen. 4-5)

East: Bugesera 1-1 Kayonza (Pen. 2-4)

Kigali’s ex-combatants football team on Wednesday booked their ticket to semi-finals of the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission Peace Tournament after a hard fought 2-1 victory over Nyanza at Kicukiro Stadium.

The annual tournament is organized by Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) in effort to foster national unity and reconciliation among Rwanda military affiliations.

It is also part of a broader concept to establish peace building among ex-combatants and civilians, besides promoting security in the Great Lakes region.

The participating teams, organisers say, come from different military affiliations such as ex-combatants from RDF and FDLR.

Forwards Collin Fabrice Nijyimbere scored the opening goal for the Kigali veterans after 20 minutes before Senat Hakizimana doubled the lead 11 minutes later to put the hosts in firm control of the game.

Fiston Gasana netted the consolation goal for the visitors in the 39th minute.

Nyanza, who were representing the Southern Province in the tournament, were the better side in the second half and noticeably dominated the possession, but the home side’s back-line and goalkeeper had an excellent partnership to ensure they didn’t concede a second goal until the final whistle as they seek to retain the title they claimed last year.

In other quarter-final encounters, Kayonza eliminated Bugesera 4-2 on penalties following a 1-all draw in regular time, Musanze thumped Mutobo 6-1, while Nyabihu progressed to the last four with 5-4 win in shootouts after playing out a 2-2 draw with Rubavu.

Semi-finals

Holders Kigali take on Kayonza in semi-finals on Friday, whilst hopefuls Nyabihu will be up against Musanze. The tournament’s final is slated for June 28.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com