Weatherhead Hockey Open
Results – Finals
*Weatherhead 3-1 City Lions (men)
*W. Historicals 0-2 DCU (women)
*SMACK 0-3 Kakungulu (boys)
*Kakungulu 5-0 Kasasa (girls)
Weatherhead beat City Lions 3-1 to win the 2022 Weatherhead Hockey Open during the men’s final of the three-day tournament on Sunday at the National Hockey Stadium, Lugogo in Kampala.
A brace from Solomon Mutalya and Arnold Kasumba’s strike were enough to enable Weatherhead defend their own Open, their third win in the competition.
Mutalya opened the scoring in the eighth minute to set the crowded fan pack ablaze. He doubled his side’s lead and own tally in the 20th minute.
City Lions pulled one back in the 26th minute through Aamed Malik giving the men in black hope of leveling matters and possibly snatch victory at Weatherhead’s grasp.
However, Kasumba’s 29th minute goal was the last nail in the coffin as Weatherhead proved unbreakable in a tournament they came out without a scratch.
Weatherhead Coach Vincent Arnold Kasasa who has led his side to many victories says that he and the entire team pride in winning the club-organized showpiece.
“It has been a special one. It comes at a time when we are celebrating 25 years, so we are privileged to having won this championship,” Kasasa said in his post match remarks.
Against City Lions, Kasasa believes his side outsmarted their rivals and had good cordination something that helped them throughout the event.
On Saturday, which was the second day of the tournament, some games were played under floodlights as fans enjoyed the game at night, a first of its kind at Lugogo.
“It was abit tricky because it was the first time we were having floodlights hockey in Uganda. However, it was a good experience and we hope that we can have more games played at night,” Kasasa noted adding that he would recommend floodlights games even for the national league.
“By that time most people would have left work and that can even attract more fans to watch the game,” Kasasa said.
Meanwhile, in other results in the final, DCU beat Weatherhead Lady Historicals 0-2 in the women’s final.
In the schools category, Kakungulu Memorial retained their titles with their boys’ side beating St Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) 3-0 whilst their girls side beat St Charles Lwanga SSS Kasasa 5-0.
The Weatherhead Open was part of the activities to mark the club’s year-long silver jubilee celebrations.
Other activities to mark the club’s silver jubilee include the Masters tournament (for persons aged 35 years and above) plus a dinner all scheduled for November. To cap the celebrations, there will be an end of year party scheduled for December. Weatherhead Series held earlier this year paved way for proceedings.