Kiyovu football club fans are confident head coach Olivier Karekezi and his team will bounce back from their crashing defeat to Marines on Tuesday, December 8. The Mumena-based club, currently led by new president Juvenal Mvukiyehe, spent millions of francs during the transfer market signing new players with a target to help the club end a 27-year wait for the league title. Kiyovu started the league campaign with a 3-0 away victory against Mukura, something that boosted the confidence of the club’s fans all over the country but things changed all of a sudden on Tuesday when Marines FC outclassed a weakened Kiyovu SC 3-0 on its home turf at Kigali Stadium, Nyamirambo. Hemedi Minani, the president of the club’s supporters says Marines’ loss won’t thwart Kiyovu SC’s dreams of winning the side’s league title this season but the loss should serve as an opportunity to fix some tactical mistakes towards better performances in future fixtures. “Defeat [against Marines FC] is part of the game and you can’t question the team’s performance from just one game. We should avoid panicking about results this early if we are to win the league. We trust the coach and the team to be able to evaluate performance [vs Marines] and prepare for better results,” he said. From quality players and coaching staff to the resources and transport means for the club, Minani is confident that his team has positioned itself as a serious title contender. “We have never, in ten years, had a team with quality players, a coach with a winning mentality, the club bus, and the means to keep the squad stay together at the camp, like we do today. I guess that was what we were missing for years to challenge for the title. So why can’t we finally do it this season? There is hope and our team has all it takes to bring the title home,” he said. Thierry Kagabo, who is a member of Kiyovu’s ‘A Jamais’ Fan Club said that Kiyovu’s performances can’t be evaluated on one game yet there are 28 more games remaining which he believes will decide who will be league champions. However, he warned that the club can’t achieve its target if players don’t improve their performances and respond in the next games, including Friday’s encounter against league champions APR FC at Kigali Stadium. Despite spending big in the transfer market, Kagabo called the club to reinforce the midfield department which he thinks was totally sloppy and exposed during the defeat against Marines. “Marines took advantage of the weaknesses of our defensive midfield. The club, therefore, needs to reinforce that department, if not, we will concede a lot of goals,” Kagabo said.
