The Kenya Harlequins delivered one of their best performances of recent times to register a 39-30 result at the weekend, and book a spot in the Enterprise cup quarter finals.
To many this result is an upset, looking at the fact that Kabras were playing in the Kenya cup final, less than a fortnight ago, a league which Quins finished in 10th. Kabras also beat Quins 27-10 last time out.
At the weekend though, the magic of the cup took centre stage, Kabras were probably guilty of being a bit too confident coming into this one. Of 15 that started against KCB, only a handful retained their slots, as the technical bench rang in the changes.
The quartered shirts, put their best foot forward, benefiting from the three week break, they welcomed back Eden Agero back from injury. The experience in Tony Mutai, Wilson Kopondo, Brian Okwomi and Dennis Muhanji was evident from the get go.
Kabras were first on the board through a penalty, before Lyle Asiligwa levelled things up, the Kenya international had his kicking boots laced up for this one, as he put in a stellar performance from the kicking T.
The two sides traded scores, setting the platform for a cracker, Arthur Ochieng would go over for the hosts, Asiligwa converting for a 10-3 score. A sweeping move from Kabras saw captain Polycap Luaki release Brian Tanga, the ensuing conversion sailing wide for a 10-8 score line.
Lyle’s boot was the difference between the two sides going into the break, with the two sides scoring an extra try each. Asiligwa sinking in a penalty and a conversion for a 20-13 Half time score.
The sugar millers would hit the second half with loads of intent as they immediately made it a two point game from a Levis Ochieng try. Quins had however regained their grove, there was no way they were letting this one slip.
William Mawira would grab his brace of tries in quick succession, to take the scores to 32-18 after Lyle converted the first one. It was then Kabras’ turn to score two tries in quick succession. First it was Malik Habil’s converted try to make it 32-25, Mukabi then barged over to make it a two point game once again at 32-30.
With less than 10 minutes on the clock, we were braced for a flurry finish here and were not disappointed. First Quins were reduced to 14 men with Stephan Ottou visiting the bin, Kabras smelling blood would throw everything at the Quins defence. The quartered shirts held on to dear life before turning over possession on their try line.
Eden Agero would then kick start a Quins counter attack, which fell agonisingly close before Kabras kicked into Quins territory. Agero was again on hand to receive the kick, placing a speculative kick into the Kabras 22. With tired bodies all over, some of the Quins players had hang around this area from the previous attack.
Kabras failed to deal with the ball, as the Quins chasers played in the team mates onside, Arthur Ochieng then gathered the loose ball to ground for a 39-30 full time score after Keegan’s successful conversion.
That result means the quartered will play the 2014/15 Kenya cup finalists,in successive weekends, as they now face KCB at the den in the coming weekend. They will be buoyed by this result heading into that quarter final clash.
Other results saw Western Bulls claim a 19-12 result at the death against Mwamba RFC, to book a quarter final date away to the Impala Saracens. The Strathmore Leos face off against Nondies in a replay of last year’s quarter final after the Leos beat Machine 38-22.
Homeboyz will also meet the side that eliminated them last year, Nakuru, after beating Blak Blad 45-3.
Collated Enterprise Cup results :
Homeboyz 45-3 Blakblad
Strathmore Leos 38-22 Mean Machine
Kenya Harlequins 39-30 Kabras
Western Bulls 19-12 Mwamba
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
