Sunrise coach seeks to maintain dream start

Match-day 3 results Sunday Pepiniere 0-1 Kirehe FCSunrise FC 3-0 MarinesEtincelles 0-1 MusanzeAmagaju 0-2 Police FCRayon Sports 2-0 AS Kigali SaturdayBugesera 0-0 EspoirSC Kiyovu 1-4 Gicumbi FridayAPR FC 3-1 Mukura VS Sunrise FC head coach Andrew Ibeh has challenged his side to continue their early season excellent form that has resulted in three consecutive league wins. The Nigerian tactician made the call after his team’s 3-0 victory against Marines in the national football league on Sunday at Nyagatare stadium. The result took the Eastern Province-based side two points clear at the top of the table. Ibeh’s team remains the only side in the league with a perfect record after three rounds of matches. Rayon Sports and defending champions APR FC are in second and third positions, respectively, with seven points apiece. Sunrise secured their third successive victory courtesy of goals from forward Regis Mushimiyimana in the 30th minute, Jean Paul Rurisa (ten minutes later) and Romeo Ojenuwa who made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute after the good pass from Vedaste Niyibizi. Ibeh, who took over the coaching reins from Sothene Habimana, who was sacked in May, admitted after the match that his biggest task is to help the players maintain a positive attitude for the rest of the season. “What I can promise is that you will see a change in attitude. We no longer want to just be competitive, we want to win,” he said in a post-match interview. Ibeh added that, “We risk losing when we play with that intent, but that is what we want. We want more energy; we want to be a little bit more aggressive in terms of the attacking.” “The guys are excited after winning three consecutive games; they are hungry to carry with the winning streak. We have enjoyed having nine points and leading the table so far but we must work hard because we want to win more games,” he said. Rayon Sports jumped into second spot joint on 7 points with rivals APR but with a superior goal difference, after beating AS Kigali 2-0 on Sunday at Kigali Regional Stadium. Burundians Pierrot Kwizera and Shassir Nahimana scored late in the 88th and 90th minutes, respectively, to secure victory for Djuma Masudi’s side. At Ruyenzi ground, Kirehe FC beat hosts Pipinierre 1-0, thanks to Hassan Habimana’s strike from 25 yards in the 33rd minute. The win took Hamissi ‘Kishi’ Sogonya’s team up to sixth place on the table with six points, while Pipinierre remain winless and second from bottom, without a point. Elsewhere, Police FC beat bottom side Amagaju 2-0 in Nyamagabe, thanks to goals from Justin Mico and Japhet Iramurora in the 35th and 58th minutes, respectively. At Umuganda Stadium, Musanze stunned Etincelles 1-0, thanks to the lone goal by ex-Rwanda international Peter Otema Kagabo in the 78th minute.Meanwhile, defending champions APR easily registered a 3-1 win over Mukura Victory Sports in the first fixture on match day 3 on Friday at Kigali Regional Stadium. Etincelles, Musanze FC, Kirehe and Police are tied on six points but separated by goal differences. Gicumbi, who walloped SC Kiyovu 4-1 on Saturday, are eighth, tied on four points with Bugesera, who are ninth.