Tuesday, May 16
•Arua Hill 1-4 Busoga United
•Blacks Power 3-2 Gaddafi
•KCCA 1-0 BUL
•Maroons 1-0 Onduparaka
•UPDF 0-2 SC Villa
•Vipers 5-2 Express
•Wakiso Giants 2-0 Bright Stars
West Nile based side Onduparaka FC have been officially relegated to the FUFA Big League.
This comes after their 1-0 loss to Maroons, in a game held at Luzira.
And the defeat was all but their last nail in the coffin to send them to the Big League next season.
With 26 games, mathematically, Onduparaka who are at the bottom with just 16 points, can not beat relegation with two games to go.
They sit 10 points adrift of safety, and cannot cover the gap in the remaining two games regardless of other results – Unless one team is deducted points by FUFA.
It has been a poor season for the Caterpillars, who have endured the worst season ever since joining the top flight in 2016.
They started off this campaign with negative points, following their ban from the federation after hooliganism acts in their game against KCCA last season in Arua.
And since then, they failed to rise up, endured a poor run of results and hosted their home games in the first round at Bombo, far away from their home base, in Lira.
Even after their return to Arua at the start of the second round, they failed to thread up good results and their relegation has been imminent.
The Caterpillars host Blacks Power before ending their campaign with an away game against UPDF FC.
Onduparaka – The Empire In Ruins
Onduparaka were promoted to Uganda Premier League in May 2016 when they beat Lira’s Sporting United 3-0 thanks to goals from Shaban Muhamad, Rashid Agau and Gaddafi Wahab under the tutelage of Allan Kabonge.
They took the top flight by storm thanks to a massive support that stormed their games, including those on the road.
And they had earlier showed their fans force in the Uganda Cup final at Nakivubo which they lost 3-1 against Vipers.
They made Greenlight Stadium (Arua) a fortress, recording a couple of outstanding results including a 2-1 win over KCCA in their debut season.
And they went on to finish a hefty fifth on the table with 45 points.
The following season, the Caterpilars finished fourth with 48 points in 2017/18 before Sixth and eighth positions respectively in the subsequent seasons.
Their struggles started to manifest in form of financial hardships, led by the departure of Main Sponsor Betway Uganda!
Players complained about going months without pay and stars departed for greener pastures.
They finished five points above the drop in 2020/21 Covid season, and they could have gone down if the season was played to competition then.
No lessons were learnt, despite an improvement last season when they finished ninth with 37 points.
The management has faced the stick for not doing enough to save the club, and its a huge task awaiting them to return this treasured club back to where they belong.
