By GILBERT WANDERA

CECAFA: Uganda Cranes and Sudan  cruised to the quarter-finals of the Senior Challenge Cup after winning their matches yesterday at City Stadium.

Uganda thrashed Eritrea 3-0 while Sudan beat Rwanda 1-0.

The Uganda verses Eritrea match brought out the best of Gor Mahia striker Dan Sserunkuma who had a hand in all three goals.

He first set up Emmanuel Okwi to score the opener in the ninth minute and then was pushed down in the 19th minute to earn Uganda a penalty from which Haimis Kizza scored for the side’s the second goal.

The third goal came with six minutes to the break and the Gor Mahia hit man was at it again setting up Emmanuel Okwi to thump home the third and final goal.

Uganda Cranes coach Serbian  Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic was full of praise for Sserunkuma afterwards.

“With every game, he is convincing me I should consider him for our 2015 Africa Cup of Nations campaign. He is an exceptional player and today he proved it again,” he said.

Relaxed manner

But the Serbian was not so impressed by the relaxed manner his team played in an entire second half during which they allowed their opponents to dominate.

“It is good to win by three goals but we should have played with the same intensity we started with. At this level you cannot afford to take things for granted especially when you are leading,” he said.

Notably, Rwanda are staring at an early elimination from theevent after going down in their second match.

The Amavubi Stars who are always favourites to do well in the regional championships were suffering their second loss in a row after going down to champions Uganda Cranes in the opener last Thursday.

The Sudanese who have already made it to the last eight started strongly and created numerous scoring chances especially in the first half.

They should have been ahead by the 21st minute but Mohamed Tahir was denied by the post after he had beaten his marker on the way to goal.

Rwanda nearly scored from a counter-attack one minute later but  Kagere Meddie was denied even as the Amavubi Stars forced their first corner of the match.

One minute later, Rwandese forward Tubane James was cautioned for rough play by Kenyan centre referee Davies Omweno.

Sudan who kept up the pressure were rewarded at the half hour mark when Salah Ibrahim dispossessed Mugiraneza Jean-Baptiste and unleashed a thunderbolt which beat the Rwandese goalkeeper all the way.

Two minutes later, Rwanda were back on the attack but the best they could get from their effort was a corner kick as the half time whistle went off.

The second half was also a tale of missed chances from either side with Nazar Hamid being denied by the Rwandese goalkeeper in the 65th minute as the winners got their first corner of the second half. Rwanda’s chance came in the 86th minute but Jean Baptiste fluffed a clear chance to pull back an equaliser for his team. ––gwandera@standardmedia.co.ke