Laiser hill dethrone Ofafa Jericho to lift Floodlies cup as Nakuru hit Mean Machine to claim third spot in Impala Floodlit tourney

JKUAT Cougar's Samson Sira(R) holds Wesely Kidinga of Kenyatta University Black Blad during Inter Universities Impala Floodlight semi finals at Impala ground, Nairobi on Saturday 18/10/14. KU won 29-12.PHOTO.BONIFACE OKENDO

Laiser Hill are the new champions of the schools category of the Airtel Impala Floodlit tournament.

Laiser Hill beat the defending champions Ofafa Jericho 30-10 in a tough fixture at the Impala Grounds  yesterday evening.

Speaking after the loss Ofafa Jericho coach Joshua Kaili stated that they simply weren't as switched on as they were supposed to be for the game.

"We can look at external factors that made us lose the game, but still at the end of the day we should not have let them affect us and we should have done our best to win the game," he said.

Kaili who was humble in defeat was particularly concerned with the fact that Laiser Hill seemed to have fielded a side that was over 20 years in age.

Laiser Hill coach Kevin Wambua was quick to clarify on this issue by saying that he clearly understood the issues raised by the other teams, but he was adamant that he followed all tournament rules when it came to fielding of players.

"When a team loses, it is understandable when they look for other factors that could have led to their loss," he said. "In this circumstance, they are claiming that we had overage players, I can clearly state that we did not field any overage players and we have all the documents to prove it.

"The confusion could have come about, due to the fact that some of my players have already played at a more senior level. If you look at the Most Valuable Player of today Joel Inzugha, you will note that he has also played for Daystar University for the just concluded National Sevens Circuit.

"What happened is that some of the Laiser Hill players were invited to train with Daystar University as a mentorship programme and when they got to the training they were good enough to make it to the first team," he said. "Inzugha has been so good that he has already been called into the national team development programme and he is barely 17."

Wambua insisted he would not risk his reputation as an outstanding coach just to win a single game. "My main aim in rugby as a coach, is to improve players, and by seeing high school players being good enough to play for senior teams is definitely something I am proud of."

The schools category was played ahead of the 3rd/4th playoff of the clubs category where Nakuru beat Mean Machine 24-16 to claim third spot.

According to Nakuru head coach Dominique Habimana they would have definitely have loved to have finished in first position, but this was a good training programme for his development side.