But Vipers SC have one thing conspicuously missing in their history – a League and Cup double. The closest they came to pulling it off was in the 2018 season but the Venoms were beaten 0-1 by KCCA in the Stanbic Bank Uganda Cup final staged in Bukedea.
This time, however, there is a strong feeling around the club that Roberto Oliveira’s charges have legitimate designs on the double. The squad is deep, the rotations are working and Vipers’ challengers are not exactly firing on all cylinders.
Vipers are in the quarterfinals after Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Kataka. They will await the last eight draw to know their opponents in the Cup while in the league, the Venoms are in pole position with a four-point advantage with only nine rounds left to the end of the season.
Only SC Villa, KCCA and Express have won doubles and Vipers are seeking to join the exclusive list of clubs to have lifted the League and Cup in the same season. Uganda Revenue Authority came agonisingly close to becoming the first non-VEK club to win the double at the beginning of the last decade but somehow, they failed to pull off the feat.
With both URA and KCCA out of the picture after their exits and one of Express and SC Villa (they were in action by press time) out, it does leave Vipers as outright favourites.
The holders, who crushed BUL 8-1 in last season’s one-sided final, are, however, taking it one game at a time aware that Cup football is rife with upsets. The semi-finals are also two-legged affairs that will be scheduled around the time when the league will be on the home straight.
Should they pull off the double, it would represent a successful first season for coach Oliveira and his counterpart Marcelo Cardoso. Key to the club’s fantastic run has been the form of forwards Cesar Lobi Manzoki, his partner Yunus Sentamu and the industrious play of Airtel-Fufa Player of the Year Bobosi Byaruhanga.
On Saturday, meanwhile, Vipers resume their title quest in a blockbuster showdown with KCCA at the MTN Omondi stadium at Lugogo.
It is a match with the makings of a title decider in the sense that if KCCA win, the league would be thrown wide open but in the event of defeat, Vipers will have opened a yawning seven-point gap on their rivals.
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