The final gameweek of the UHA National Hockey League delivered a rollercoaster of twists, heartbreaks, and wild plotlines, with the closing ceremony set for 30th November after the Uganda Cup finals at the National Hockey Grounds.

The women’s league title was decided by a razor-thin margin. HDF entered the final match unbeaten, sitting comfortably at 37 points with a formidable +83 goal difference.

Chasing them were Wananchi, last season’s champions, on 34 points and a +73 goal difference. So what did Wananchi need?

A 5–0 win. Nothing less.

Win by five, tie everything, and claim the title on head-to-head.

Simple on paper. Brutal on the turf.

Ahead of the gane, it seemed like the Wananchi side walked in without a clear sense of the mountain they had to climb.

It was as though  HDF had already secured the title.

Wananchi came out firing. Jolly Alimo, arguably the league’s brightest star this year, delivered a cold-blooded hat-trick.

Doreen Asiimwe added the fourth and suddenly, the dream was alive of winning was alive.

However, the dream did not get materialized as HDF held on, handing Wananchi a 4-0 victory.

Wananchi was one goal shy of winning thr title. Just one!

Wananchi broke HDF’s unbeaten run but couldn’t defend their 2024 crown, falling agonisingly short of the miracle margin.

HDF, however, made history, clinching their first-ever league title as the youngest side in the women’s division.

While the women’s title race stole hearts, the shock of the weekend came from the men’s top-scorer battle.

Heading into the final fixtures, the men’s top scorers list stood as:
• Brian Okodi (Weatherhead) → 42 goals
• Aaron Mutenyo (Kampala) → 32
• Jackson Musinguzi (Wananchi) → 31

Wananchi’s early kickoff against Weatherhead Titans was expected to be a goals galore affair, and Wananchi came in with a single-minded mission: feed their man Jackson Musinguzi  aka “V8.”

For context, Musinguzi’s nickname comes from his high performance and being as powerful as a V8 engine.

On this day, the engine delivered big.

The Titans’ defence realised the plot a bit too late, specifically at 15–2, when Musinguzi had scored all 15 Blazers goals. Yes. All fifteen.

Jackson skyrocketed from 31 to 46 goals, blowing past Brian Okodi in one afternoon.

Titans’ consolation strikes came from Kasasa and Charles, but by then, the story had already been written with exclamation marks.

Okodi now needed five goals in his Sunday fixture against Badgers to reclaim the top-scorer title.

But the Badgers had their own agenda. Rockets had earlier been thrashed 6–0 by KHC, opening a narrow door.

If Badgers beat Weatherhead, they would leapfrog Rockets into 5th place. Unfortunately for the Badgers, Weatherhead wasn’t in a charitable mood.

Okodi tried to chase down Musinguzi’s big haul—scoring two goals, but the Badgers’ defence held firm.

Worse still for Okodi, a late yellow card sent him off, ending his match and officially killing his top-scorer hopes.

Weatherhead won 5–1, with additional goals from Moses Tushabe, Maxwell, and Ashiraf. Ismael grabbed Badgers’ lone goal.

Matchday 18 Results

Women:
Wananchi 4–0 HDF
Thunders 5–1 DCU
Weatherhead Diamonds 1–3 Makerere
Weatherhead 0–2 Kampala

Men:
Weatherhead Titans 2–15 Blazers
Thunders 5–0 Makerere
KHC Originals 7–3 Wabalozi
Rockets 0–6 KHC Stallions
Badgers 1–5 Weatherhead

In the space of two days, an unbeaten streak fell, a single goal decided a title, and a top scorer race was turned upside down by a 15-goal masterclass.

Gameweek 18 offered everything—from tension to triumph to pure disbelief.