Birgen scores as Ulinzi Stars win Military Games opener.

It was a pleasant revenge against the Ugandans as Ulinzi has found it hard beating them in last two meetings the last one being a 2-2 draw in Nairobi.

Brian Birgen scored his first senior goal to hand Kenya’s Ulinzi Stars a vital 1-0 win over Uganda’s Simba in their opening match of East African Military Games at Aman Stadium in Zanzibar on Thursday.
It was a pleasant revenge against the Ugandans as Ulinzi Stars have found it hard beating them in last two meetings, the most recent being a thrilling 2-2 draw in Nairobi last year.
Ulinzi had an upper hand in opening quarter of the game, dictating play and having two good chances to open scores.
Kevin Amwayi had a curling free-kick from the right saved by the Ugandan keeper while Stephen Waruru’s effort at the edge of the box was blocked by a sliding Ugandan defender.
Uganda slowly came into the game and caused some trouble especially winning several free-kicks on the wings but Ulinzi defense managed to deal with them efficiently. On the opposite end, Birgen had a volley go wide after the Ugandan defense failed to clear away a long throw from Kevin Amwayi.
In the second period, it was evident that an early goal would do and after Stephen Waruru saw his chipped effort slide on top of the bar, he turned provider passing to Birgen, who went past two defenders before shooting with his weaker left foot past the Ugandan keeper.
The Ugandans pressed hard in closing 15 minutes with Ulinzi’s skipper Stephen Ochollah being hobbled off injured with a thigh injury. Substitute Patrick Gonahasa proved quite a handful for the Ulinzi back four, first beating them to force James Saruni into a decent save and secondly his shot going over from the same angle.
With Tanzania having won opening game 3-1 against Burundi, Ulinzi Stars will now face the latter and a win will most likely propel them to the top of the log.