Police and UPDF played out a goalless draw in the Premier League regular season on Wednesday, the 10th of September. The match ended 0:0 after ninety minutes of cautious football, with neither side able to break the deadlock. By then, the tension had built enough that you could feel it in the stands, though nothing much happened to justify that feeling on the pitch.
There were moments when one side looked like they might take control. Police had four shots on target compared to UPDF's two, but the difference didn't show in the scoreline. To be fair, neither keeper had much to do, and the defensive shape from both sides held firm through what was otherwise a rather pedestrian affair.
The statistics tell you more than the result does. Police registered 99 attacks against UPDF's 90, but the ratio of shots off target to shots on target suggests both sides struggled to find quality in their chances. Four corners apiece tells its own story — neither team could sustain pressure long enough to win a set-piece opportunity.
Both sides sit mid-table after three rounds. Police are ninth with three points from two wins and one loss, while UPDF occupy thirteenth place with just one point from a draw and a defeat. The gap between them is nothing dramatic, but the confidence levels after this result will differ considerably.
We had given a 57 per cent confidence level for a Police victory, but the match went another way. Things came to a head in the second half when both sides seemed to agree that a point was acceptable, and the game settled into a pattern neither side wanted to disrupt.
This result keeps things open in the middle of the table, where the real battle for European qualification spots will eventually come. Both teams now know they can grind out results even when they aren't at their best, and that is worth something in a league where margins are tight.