Ulinzi Starlets tactician Joseph Mwanza has acknowledged that there is a big void left by the retirement of Neddy Atieno at the end of the previous campaign, sentiments shared even by those watching Ulinzi Starlets match against Vihiga Queens.The Military side fell 2-0 to the three-time Kenya Women Premier League champions at Utalii Grounds on Tuesday in their second match of the campaign and the absence of the former Harambee Starlets forward was left, as they squandered chance after chance.Following the display, Mwanza accepted that indeed they were missing the forward in the team but at the same time gave an assurance that the other players in the team would step up to fill her void.”I have to accept that we are missing her in the team because you saw some quality in the finishing was lacking. She is a good finisher but now the other players have to accept to fit in her shoes and fill the void,” Mwanza said.At Utalii for Ulinzi Starlets vs Vihiga Queens. Scrappy game so far. The latter is leading 1-0. The soldiers really struggling upfront, Neddy Atieno should reconsider her decision to hang her boots #KWPL pic.twitter.com/AzwWisyqIC— Jeff Kinyanjui (@Nyash88) December 28, 2021 Asked on whether he would attempt to convince her to come back to the team, Mwanza laughed it off and said he was not in a position to answer that.The tactician further rued missed chances in his side’s defeat, admitting that they will have to work on their finishing before their next match next week when they face off with Wadadia at the Mumias Sports Complex in exactly one week.”We lost a lot of chances and you know that any time when you get chances it means that your team has played well and what remains is working on the finishing and that is the area that we are going to work on considering we got so many chances but did not utilize them,” he added.The Kenya International called it quits in November after guiding the military side to clinch the inaugural Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Women’s Cup and Super Cup.Ulinzi will miss the services of their star Neddy Atieno who announced her retirement from active football after the Super Cup. In her absence, Lucy Mukhwana is expected to step up and lead their attack with assistance from captain Diana Shakava.— Mwawana Muema, HSC (@MwawanaMuema) December 27, 2021 She joined Ulinzi from Makolanders in 2017 and helped the team storm the Women Premier League (WPL) in 2020 and recently made her return to the national women’s team Harambee Starlets, helping them dispense South Sudan 15-1 in the first round of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifiers.
