Upper Nile is the best soccer team in the just concluded national secondary school games after it beat Lakes by a solitary goal in the final.
The game was scheduled to be played in Rumbek on Thursday morning but it was shifted to Wulu ground, some 35 kilometres South of Rumbek, after heavy rain flooded Rumbek’s Freedom Square.Lakes football coach Emanuel Sagin told Good News Radio shortly after returning from Wulu that his team lost due to poor match officiating: Lakes main striker was unfairly red-carded by the referee.
Lakes captain Abraham Chol Henry was happy with the second place in the ten-state secondary school soccer.
He thanked the fans for their support and attributed the final defeat to the change of venue from Rumbek to Wulu.
Director of Upper Nile sports team, Yar Chol Rei, said good coaching and appropriate prior preparations were behind the victory of his team.
He disclosed that the players were isolated for two months before travelling to Lakes State.
Mr Yar recalled that his team won five games and thanked the coaches for their contribution to the good results of his team.
The Upper Nile official decried lack of adequate facilities in Rumbek, citing poor sanitation and insufficient basic items like bed sheets and mosquito nets for the visiting athletes.
He noted that these were the first national games and expressed hope that the next tournament would be better planed.
The over-all results will be revealed tomorrow.