A Haroun Lubisia drop goal deep in the second half brought Strathmore’s 7 game unbeaten run this season to an end, as Homeboyz claimed a 18-15 win at the Lion’s den.
The Leos grabbed the early lead from a Ken Andola penalty, before Haroun Lubisia levelled things up from a penalty of his own. From this point the sides traded scores either side of Elton Isiaho’s visit to the sin bin, with Homeboyz taking a 15-10 lead at the half time break. Courtesy of a Dan Othieno try for the Leos, Felix Ojow and Haroun Lubisa scoring for the Djs.
The second half would be a cagey affair, seeing little action as far as scores went. The Leos would level things up from a Tony Onyango try as they looked to make their second come back win in as many weekends. The Djs however had a different playlist for the Leos on their decks, Haroun Lubisia sinking that drop goal for a 18-15 result.
That result saw the Leos slip into third spot and sees that run of never beating the Homeboyz since the latter were promoted to the top flight stretch for another year. It was the perfect return for Joshua Chisanga of the Homeboyz after missing much of last year through injury, the Djs now sit in 6th spot on 23 points with a play off berth still within their sights.
At the Kakamega High School, Kabras picked up the region’s bragging rights after winning the first ever Kakamega derby 17-6 against Western Bulls. That result saw the sugar millers stay in fourth making up valuable ground in the battle for the play off spots. The Bulls are now without a win in their last four matches and are in 11th spot.
It was a weekend of high scores for the Ngong road neighbours as Quins registered a 94-13 against the Catholic Monks on Friday Night as Impala beat Mombasa 84-6. The quartered shirts are now in seventh as Impala jump into eighth.
Blak Blad all but secured top flight action next season, as they jumped into 9th spot after registering a 30-13 result against Mean Machine. That result piled the pressure on Eschuma as they remain in 13th place.
At the RFUEA, Nakuru were made to work hard by a resolute Nondies side before claiming a 36-29 result. Nondies were first on the score board after beautiful run of play from deep inside their half, orchestrated by veterans Ben Nyambu and Charles Kanyi. Conversion by Kanyi sailed wide for a 5-0 scoreline.
Nakuru would take the lead after putting together an almost similar phase of play as George Odongo touched down, Martin Muita’s conversion making it 7-5. The Wanyore would soon stretch their lead from another try taking the score to 14-5.
It was an epic battle in the forwards with Nondies standing up to their opponents, they would get their second try from a turn over ball at the ruck, this time Kanyi’s conversion was good, taking the score at half time to 14-12.
The Wanyore were quick off the blocks in the second half, Mike Okombe barging over to make the score 21-12 after Muita’s conversion. Nondies would get their first success from the maul, scoring their third try from the set piece to make it 21-17.
Muita would stretch his side’s lead to 6 points from a penalty, at 24-17. Nondies would get their second try from a maul, their fourth of the match, to narrow the deficit to 2 points at 24-22. The sides continued exchanging scores with 20 minutes to play, Leslie Ochieng would go over for Nakuru handing them a 29-22.
The Wanyore would go over for their fifth try, looking to have put the game to death with the score at 36-22. Nondies were however not done, scoring another try from a maul to make sure that the closing minuted of this match were nerve wrecking. Wanyore eventually holding on for a 36-29 result that sees them remain top of the league.
Despite putting up great performances over the last two weeks, Nondies have failed to claim wins against KCB and Nakuru. They will however take a lot of positives from the last two weekends going forward, they are currently in 10th spot.
The weekend’s highlight match was over before it had hardly begun as KCB raced to a 14-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes of play. First up was Peter Kilonzo who rounded up a sweeping move started by Jacob Ojee and John Ahenda.
Soon, it was Max Adaka’s turn to go over the Lions, man of the match Darwin Mukidza making no mistake from the conversions. The green shirts were in rampant form in the opening exchanges, with the black shirts still finding their feet.
Mwamba would slowly settle in, as the match entered it’s second quarter. They set camp inside KCB’s territory, only failing to find that killer punch. There was however no denying Chris Asego who put the first points for Kulabu from a penalty to make it 14-3.
KCB would take it up a notch in the closing stages of the first half, scoring two tries from Oscar Sorano and Oliver Mang’eni to get the bonus and all but kill off this match, with the score reading 28-3 at half time.
The second half was a more silent affair with the Lions seemingly content with their lead, on their part Mwamba couldn’t find a way past the KCB defence. Things however got interesting at the 55th minute when centre referee Constant Cap sent KCB captain Andrew Amonde to the bin for a dangerous tackle.
Mwamba saw the opportunity to get back into this match and they took it, Peter Chege landing a brace to make it 28-15. Could Mwamba do to KCB what Strathmore did to them last weekend? The Lions looked stunned by how quickly that escalated, but had enough to hold on for the win once they got back to their full complement.
That win sees the Lions move into second position, with Mwamba staying in fifth spot.
The battle for the play off slots has just begun to heat up, and with the top 3 yet to play each other it is bound to get better over the next weeks. On the other side of the table, it doesn’t look like Mombasa are going to survive the axe, question is who between Catholic and Machine will join the coast based side?
Collated Match Day 8 Results :
Quins 94-13 Catholic
Machine 13-30 Blak Blad
Homeboyz 18-15 Strathmore
Impala 84-6 Mombasa
Nondies 29-36 Nakuru
Mwamba 15-28 KCB
Western Bulls 6-17 Kabras Sugar
You can view the latest standings here..
Finally a big congratulations to the Kenyan Super Man, Innocent ‘Namcos’ Simiyu, the Kenya Lionesses and KCB RFC for their wins at the SOYA Awards. Namcos bagged the comeback of the year accolade, with the Lionesses picking 1st runners up in the Female team of the year and KCB taking the Male team of the year trophy.
Evidence that this great sport is growing and people are watching us…
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
