ORANGE STAY FOCUSED ON TITLE: Telkom inch closer to retaining national women hockey trophy

Sports: Orange vs Strathmore. Strathmore players Elizabeth Ngombo(l) and Orange Betsy Omalla fight for the ball when they played National Women at City Park. Orange scored 2-0. ON 31/01/16 PHOTO: JENIPHER WACHIE

National women hockey champions Telkom Orange extended their dominance in the league with a 2-0 victory over Strathmore University.

The win saw Telkom extend their league lead to eight points ahead of Strathmore, who are second.

The current Africa champions have been in their best form this season and have scored 98 goals and conceded one after 14 rounds of matches. Orange’s assistant coach Josephine Ataro said her charges will retain the title.

“They have played well so far and I believe that they will have a better performance in the remaining matches. We want to retain our trophy in style.”

Goals in each half by international Audrey Omaido in 14th minute and upcoming striker Maureen Okumu in the 45th minute were enough to see Orange condemn the Scorpions to their third defeat of the season. Strathmore lost 1-2 in their first leg encounter against Orange.

The 17-time national champions seem headed for a record title number 18 as they top the table with 42 points from 14 rounds of matches. They are yet to lose a match in their league fixtures.

Strathmore, who were last year’s first runner-up in the league contest, are second with 34 points from 15 rounds of matches and have won 11 games, drawn one and lost three.

Sliders are third with 29 points from nine wins, two draws and three losses. Vikings are fourth after displacing last year’s second runner-up United States International University of Africa (USIU-A) following their 5-0 victory over Daystar University on Sunday evening.

Mount Kenya University are still rooted at the bottom of the standings with two points from 14 rounds of matches, while Daystar are second last with seven points from 14 rounds of matches.

In the men’s premier league title chase, Nakuru HC were the biggest winners of the weekend after they returned home with double victory at the end of their trip to the city.

Nakuru beat Kenya College of Accountancy (KCAU) 2-1 and then defeated Mombasa Sports Club (MSC) 2-0 in their second win of the weekend.

The win saw them break into the top-10 ranking for the first time this season. They are now ninth with 25 points. Western Jaguars and KCAU are 11th and 12th on the log.

KCAU bounced back from their 2-1 loss to Nakuru to trounce Jaguars 6-1 in their second fixture, while Jaguars on the other hand, defeated MSC 4-1 in their weekend opener.

Defending champions Butali Sugar Warriors still top in men’s standings with 46 points followed by former champions Kenya Police on 45 points. USIU-A, in third position, have 31 points.