CAFWCLQ: Vihiga Queens finish fourth after falling to Buja Queens

Vihiga Queens have finished fourth at the 2023 CAF Women's Champions League CECAFA Zone qualifiers after falling by a solitary goal to Buja Queens in the third-place playoff on Wednesday 30 August.

Anyone watching the match would have easily confused it for a Kenya Women's Premier League encounter, with the Burundian side boasting of five Kenyans in the starting team and three on the bench.

Corazone Aquino, Lydia Akoth, Topister Situma, Elizabeth Wambui, and Ruth Ingosi were the Kenyans in Buja's starting eleven while Monica Karambu, Rachael Muema, and Diana Wacera had their place on the substitutes bench.

As fate would have it, it was a Kenyan who scored to sink Vihiga, Lydia Akoth hitting a ferocious shot 40 minutes in the game to give her side the lead and they held on to it for the remaining length of the match.

The Charles Okere-led side had to battle out in the third-place playoffs after falling to CBE FC 2-1 in the semis, the reverse result of the 2021 final in Nairobi when Vihiga won by the same scoreline.

Speaking after the match, Okere noted that the 2023 edition was very competitive but blamed the psychological torture that came with the loss in the semi.

"That was not the result we wanted but congratulations to Buja Queens. it seems the loss to CBE in our last match affected our girls and I have been trying to lift them psychologically. All teams came prepared for this edition and that is something that we have to get right the next time," Okere said.

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Buja Queens' tactician Feruzi Haruna was contented with the team's performance in their maiden appearance in the competition.

"It was our first time to take part in the competition and we are happy to have finished third. We had hopes of lifting the title but we are thankful for what God has given us," he said.