Rayon eye second spot

Sunday Marines vs Amagaju FC 3:30pmMusanze vs SunriseRayon Sports vs EspoirBugesera vs KireheMiroplast vs Gicumbi FridaySC Kiyovu 0-2 Police FC Rayon Sports hosts Espoir FC in the Azam Rwanda Premier League on Sunday at Kigali Stadium, hoping to win and continue their push for second place after SC Kiyovu lost to Police FC on Friday. Under new interim coach, Ivan Mineart, the defending champions are in fifth place with 21 points, level with APR FC in fourth place and three points behind leaders SC Kiyovu. Espoir are second from bottom with ten points. Victory for Rayon Sports will take them joint-top league leaders on 24 points same as Kiyovu but the former will be in second place due to head to head record. “Espoir are a strong team, and are fighting for their survival but our aim is to be ready for every game. We want to make good progress and finish as high as possible,” Rayon Sports assistant coach Jeannot Witakenge said. “We are focused to finish as high as possible in the league, so we are looking forward to win this game. Getting three points on Sunday is vital to achieving our set targets at the end of the season,” noted the former Rayon Sports midfielder. He noted that, “Our first priority is to win our games. I know it will be hard, but we have to be ambitious and set high targets in order to achieve the best results. We need to get a good result on Sunday.” However, Espoir coach, Jimmy Ndayizeye admits that his team have to start winning games in order to move away from the relegation danger zone, where they have been since the start of the season in September. “We want to start winning matches so that we can move away from the relegation zone. We still have a chance, but we need to work harder in the second round than we have done in the first 12 matches,” Ndayizeye admitted. Elsewhere, 10th-placed Marines, fresh from drawing against Mukura Victory Sports in midweek, will host Amagaju at Umuganda Stadium in Rubavu, Musanze plays Sunrise FC at Ubworoherane Stadium, while Bugesera will be at home to Kirehe in Nyamata. Bottom side Miroplast, with 10 points; host 14th-placed Gicumbi FC, who are just one point ahead, at Stade Mironko. Police FC edge Kiyovu Police FC edged leaders SC Kiyovu 2-0 at Mumena Stadium on Friday to move into third spot in the table standings. The loss cut Kiyovu’s lead to just two points ahead of second-placed AS Kigali, who were yet to play Mukura by press time. Antoine Dominique Ndayishimiye scored the first goal in the 67th minutes before Isaie Songa netted the second in the 89th minute. League table Team PD W D L PtsSC Kiyovu 13 7 3 3 24AS Kigali 12 6 4 2 22Police FC 13 6 4 3 22APR FC 12 5 6 1 21Rayon Sports 12 6 3 3 21Sunrise FC 12 5 4 3 19Etincelles 12 4 6 2 18Mukura 12 3 7 2 16Musanze 12 3 5 4 14Marines 12 3 5 4 14Amagaju 12 3 4 5 13Kirehe FC 12 3 2 7 11Bugesera 12 2 5 5 11Gicumbi 12 3 2 7 11Espoir 12 1 7 4 10Miroplast 12 1 6 5 9 editorial@newtimes.co.rw