Uganda were crowned the 2023 Cecafa U18 champions, after rallying from behind to stun hosts Kenya 2-1 in a scintillating final clash at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu on Friday.
Syphas Owuor fired Kenya into the lead after capitalising on a grave defensive howler to send the partisan crowd into an ecstatic celebration in the 66th minute.
However, Richard Okello ruined the party for Kenya after pouncing on an opportunity on the edge of the box in the 78th minute, effectively forcing the encounter into extra time.
Hakim Mutebi was the toast for the visitors, blasting the back of the net just 50 seconds into extra time to get the crucial goal that separated the two East African behemoths at the full-time whistle.
Humphrey Aroko should have broken the deadlock in the initial minutes of the first half but squandered a sitter with only Uganda's goalkeeper to beat.
Eager for goals, Junior Stars head coach Salim Babu effected a double substitution, bringing on Aldrine Kibet for Joseph Omuse and Lucas Maina for Humphrey Aroko.
The changes injected the much-needed impetus into the action-packed encounter with Maina rattling the the top of the net with a lofty long-range effort.
The stands went silent when Uganda seemed to have scored through Richard Okello some minutes to the break only for the assistant referee to chalk his effort for offside.
Kenya's campaign got off to a flying start with a 5-0 thumping of Sudan in Group A.
Three days later, Kenya wrung out a hard-fought 1-0 to edge past Rwanda before thumping Somalia 3-1 in the final group game.
The gallant Junior Stars maintained a three-match unbeaten run in the group stage to square off with Tanzania in a feisty semifinal duel staged Tuesday.
Uganda had sealed the other semifinal berth in an earlier kickoff, following a hard-fought 1-0 over Rwanda, Abubaker Mayanja's second-half goal making all the difference at the full-time whistle.
Uganda's campaign got off to a torrid start with a 1-0 defeat to Tanzania in Group B, with Sharif Wilson scoring the solitary goal. Three days later, the Ugandan lads edged Zanzibar with a feeble 2-1 margin before registering a convincing 2-0 victory over South Sudan. They cruised past Rwanda in the semifinal courtesy of Abubaker Mayanja's second-half effort.
