Vipers recorded a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Kirinya Jinja SS in a Uganda Premier League clash in Nakivubo on Tuesday.
The former champions started brightly, with the likes of Tony Odur and Brian Kakaire showing some good touches. The team as a whole created a number of good situations but were unable to make their dominance count.
Vipers would punish Jinja SS as a mistake by James Otim led to a goal for Odur in the 5th minute.
Not long afterwards it was nearly 2-0 when Musa Esenu’s strike was saved by Jinja goalie Joel Mutakubwa and deflected clear.
However, the the visiting school team surged back into the game with a steady wave of attacks moving in the direction of Watenga Ismail’s goal.
Vipers did get the ball into the back of the net later in the half but Odur’s well taken header off Nicholas Wadada cross was ruled offside.
The game changed rhythm after recess as Alex Isabirye’s pressed for the equaliser and the hosts had goalie Ismail Watenga to thank for match winning saves.
The Ugandan international saved goal bound efforts from Anthony Mayanja and Joel Mudondo while at the other end, Brian Kakaire and Musa Esenu were denied chance to get on the score sheet.
There were no more further alarms as Vipers held on to record a 1-0 win and Vipers go top with 19 points, same as KCCA but the two are separated by goals scored despite having a similar goal difference.
Kirinya are just a slot above the red zone on 10 points in as many league games.
