KCB Defend Driftwood Title, Kabras Claim Plaudits

The 2013 Kabeberi champions Homeboyz fell to Nakuru 10-5, in the first game, that set the tone for the rest of the day. Homeboyz would get over that loss with an emphatic 43-0 demolition of the hosts following this up with a 17-10 win over Western Bulls to book a slot in the Cup quarter finals. Nakuru would make their first appearance in the Cup competition this season courtesy of a 7 all tie against the Bulls and a 38-0 win over the hosts.

The Bulls were dumped out of the Cup for the first time this season and were joined by Mombasa in the bowl.

Pool B saw series leaders Mwamba struggle to get past Kisumu eventually winning 12-5, this before Kabras posted the first upset of many beating Nondies 10-0. They followed this win up with an even more impressive display beating Mwamba 10-7 and book a slot in the cup with a game to spare. Nondies beat Kisumu 12-10 to make their match against Mwamba a do or die affair. 

Kabras, after slaying two giants inexplicably failed to get past Kisumu who beat them 19-7. In the final match of the pool, a replay of the third quarter final at Kabeberi, Mwamba booked their quarter final berth after edging past Nondies 14-12.

Pool C saw the two favourites to progress to the Cup competition start on a strong note, Quins beating Daystar 27-0 and Strathmore walloping the Savanna Stormers 43-0. The two would switch opponents in the second round of matches, posting almost similar scores, Quins steam rolling past the Stormers 51-0 with Strathmore beating Daystar 24-0 to book their slots in the Cup.

Tony Owuor in action against Daystar

The final match was to decide who would top the pool, Quins would seal top spot with a toughly fought out 12-10 win over the Leos.

Pool D was also a straight forward affair for the two front runners, defending champions KCB got their title defence kick started with a 12-5 win over Machine with Impala beating Blak Blad 22-5. The Lions would book their spots in the cup with a 22-5 win over Blad and were joined by Impala who beat Machine 17-0.

Blad’s dominance over Machine in the shorter version was kept intact as the KU students beat their UoN counter parts 10-0. 

In the final match of the pool, KCB would avenge the loss to Impala at Kabeberi by registering a 10-0 win and sealing top spot from this pool.

In Division II, front runners TUK, Catholic, Masaku and KCA made little mistake on Day 1 to book quarter final spots. They were joined by Spartans, Shepherds, Comras and Thika. 

TUM vs Mainland Stormers

Ukunda vs Mombasa II

TUK vs Spartans

Masaku vs Comras

KCA vs Thika

Shepherds vs Catholic

Western Bulls vs Nondies

Blak Blad vs Savanna Stormers

Daystar vs Machine

Kisumu vs Mombasa

Nakuru vs Kabras

KCB vs Strathmore

Quins vs Impala

Mwamba vs Homeboyz

Kabras kept their dream run going as they edged past Nakuru 10-7 to proceed to the semi finals. KCB got past Strathmore 12-10 to book a showdown against Kabras.

Quins made it three wins out of three against Ngong road rivals Impala as they beat them  15-0 to set up a potential mouth watering semi final against either Homeboyz or Mwamba. 

The last quarter final was a replay of the Kabeberi Cup final with Homeboyz taking on Mwamba. In that final, the Djs were dominant over the fourteen minutes to claim the Kabeberi title, this time round the tables were turned. Mwamba got their revenge and set up a Semi final berth against Quins after a 24-5 win over Homeboyz.

Mike Agevi after scoring against Homeboyz.

In the Bowl, Western Bulls beat Nondies 21-0, with Blad putting 22 unanswered points past Stormers, Daystar piled the misery on Machine, dismissing the Eschuma 33-0. Kisumu joined the three in the Semi finals with a 22-0 win over Hosts Mombasa.

TUM and Mombasa II made it a home affair in the division II Bowl final after beating Mainland Stormers 17-0 and Ukunda 17-12 respectively.

In the Cup, TUK beat Spartans 24-0, Masaku edged past Comras 5-0, as KCA and Catholic beat Thika RFC and Shepherds 10-5 and 49-0 respectively to progress to the Semi finals.

Comras vs Spartans

Thika vs Shepherds

TUK vs Masaku

Catholic vs KCA

Machine vs Mombasa

Nondies vs Stormers

Western Bulls vs Blak Blad

Kisumu vs Daystar

Strathmore vs Nakuru

Homeboyz vs Impala

KCB vs Kabras

Quins vs Mwamba

Comras edged past the Spartans 5-0 in the first plate semi to book a final berth against Thika RFC who got past Shepherds 24-12. The cup saw TUK get past Masaku 31-7 to set up a final clash against Catholic who narrowly beat KCA 10-5 in the other Semi final.

In the first division Shield Semi finals, Machine beat the hosts 14-10 with Nondies getting over Stormers 33-0, to set up a match that would have easily been a cup final a few years back.

The Bulls were made to work before beating Blad 12-5 to proceed to the Bowl final where they met Kisumu who also had a tough time getting past Daystar, 12-7.

Strathmore, who had looked peerless on day 1 managed to beat Nakuru 19-10 in the first Plate Semi final, that win set up a crunch Final against the Homeboyz who easily sailed past Impala 26-10.

In the cup, Kabras’ dream run came to a grinding halt as they fell to KCB 14-7 with tries from Ian Indimuli and Edwin Salamba before Allan Omuka grabbed the consolation for the sugar boys.

Action between Kabras and KCB

The second semi final saw Mwamba lose inspirational captain Horace Otieno to injury before Tony Mutai went over to give Quins a 5-0 lead going into the break. Quins would stretch that lead to twelve points in the second half through Amos Otieno’s try and Eden Agero’s conversion. Despite their best efforts Mwamba failed to get back, as the final whistle went with the score reading Quins 12-0 Mwamba.

FINALS

Division II Bowl Final
TUM vs Mombasa II

Division II Plate Final
Comras vs Thika

Division II Cup Final
TUK vs Catholic

Division I Shield Final
Machine vs Nondies

Division I Bowl Final
Western Bulls vs Kisumu

Division I Plate Final
Strathmore vs Homeboyz

Division I Bronze Final
Kabras vs Mwamba

Division I Cup Final
KCB vs Quins

TUM and Mombasa II had progressed to the Bowl Final earlier during the quarter finals round as there were 14 sides in the second division. TUK picked up the division II title beating Catholic 12-5 in a closely fought out final.

Machine got past Nondies 15-5 to claim the Shield title, Machine are now on 7 points in 16th position and are the last placed team out of the sides that have played in all three rounds. Nondies will be disappointed by this performance which sees them fall to 12th spot on the overall standings with a similar number of points.

Western Bulls managed to salvage all they could, after failing to make it to the Cup quarter finals for the first time this season, by picking up the bowl title, beating Kisumu 22-0. The Bulls stay in seventh on 30 points with Kisumu further back in tenth on 20 points.

Strathmore got sweet revenge over the Homeboyz, who had knocked them out at the Cup quarters in Kabeberi, blanking the Djs 14-0 in the Plate final. This capped a disappointing run for the two sides who had hoped to challenge for their second title this season. Strathmore had looked great on day 1 before being edged out by KCB at the cup quarters.

Homeboyz struggled to match the form they showed at Kabeberi, the impact of missing their coach Paul Murunga and a good number of their players to the national under 19 side was clearly evident. The Leos slip to fourth on the log with 47 points from the three rounds played. Their challenge for a second overall title has received a body blow though with this highly unpredictable series anything is possible. Homeboyz are three points behind Strathmore in fifth.

The bronze final was a repeat of a Pool B fixture played on Day 1, Mwamba taking on Kabras Sugar. In that meeting Kabras had shocked many by beating the traditional sevens kings 10-7. This time round though, Mwamba looked to put things straight and with top spot in the balance, they had all to play for. The black shirts narrowly led 7-5 at the break before the ever reliable Dan Sikuta went over to seal the win at 12-5.

That win ensured Kulabu remain top of the standings on 55 points, their consistent run of cup finals have kept them there. They will however have to win one of the remaining legs to assure them of the series title. Kabras have leap frogged eight sides on the log to settle in 11th on 15 points after playing in their first round. It is safe to say that the sugar boys will be sticking around the first division for the rest of the legs, after that scintillating performance at the coast.

The Cup final saw KCB take on Quins in a repeat of last year’s final where KCB beat Quins 17-10. This year the two had previously met once in the circuit, KCB winning 15-5 in Dala’s Bronze Final.

KCB strted off the better of the two, making forays into Quins territory but could not break the defensive line. Quins would in return turn on the heat and attack the KCB line, a handling error inside the lions’ 22 proved costly. As Fabian Olando gathered the lose ball, stepped past 3 Quins defenders before realising Darwin Mukidza who sprinted 60 meters to the line, Salamba converting to make it 7-0 at half time.

The second half saw more of the same, KCB on the ascendancy, Benjamin Ojema going over to stretch his side’s lead to 12-0 with five minutes to go. Quins, sensing the game slipping away from their grip threw everything at the Lions, eventually Eden Agero going over for an unconverted try to set up a tense final 2 minutes at 12-5.

KCB would manage to hold onto that lead to the final whistle and successfully defend the title they won here last year. Darwin Mukidza also picked up the tournament’s MVP accolade for the second year running with Felix Ayange and Arthur of Quins going home with the top points scorer and Most promising young player awards, respectively.

That win sees KCB move into second on the overall log on 52 points, three behind leaders Mwamba and one ahead of third place Quins. It is shaping up to be an epic race to the overall title, with the field now trimmed to three sides, Mwamba, KCB and Quins. Strathmore and Homeboyz have an outside chance provided that the three slip up big time.

This year’s series is definitely the most competitive in recent times, there are no sure qualifiers to the cup competition, and upon making it to the cup, every match is like a cup final even for those who drop to the Plate.

Goes to show just how competitive the sevens game has become since last season, with improvements in conditioning and overall fitness the difference between the top sides is almost negligible.

We move on to Nakuru this weekend for Prinsloo, which is bound to throw up a few surprises of it’s on…

With that ladies and gents….

KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!