By BS Mulavi

Kenya cruised to the semis of the Confederation of Africa Under-19 rugby tournament with a deserved 28-14 victory over Morocco.

The young Kenyan side, though hastily assembled, proved critics wrong with an outstanding performance, spiced with a brilliant display.

There were, however, moments especially in the dying minutes of the game that the North Africans fought back but the home lads had enough in their tanks to weather the late storm.

The hosts were quick off the blocks and scored the first try courtesy of a superb run from Kennedy Ambale who fended off three tacklers to score at the centre-post and secure a 7-0 lead.

Third try

Kenya’s George Mutuku (left) and Abdi Azeddine of Morocco during the Confederation of Africa Rugby under-19 match at the RFUEA ground, Tuesday. Kenya won 28-14. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

The Moroccans replied immediately with a try of their own from Mahi Adjen, which settled the game a little. It was only after a good number of phase-plays that space was created at the wing for speedster Elisha Okwatch to sprint 40 metres and regain the lead for Kenya.

Henceforth, Kenya was on a roll and secured a third try from David Ambunya to open a commanding 21-7 lead.

Morocco reduced the margin with a solo try from S Kanai, the game going to the break 21-14.

The North Africans did themselves no favour in the second half as they looked fatigued. The Kenyans exploited their drop in resistance to punish them with a fourth try from Joseph Abala.

The Moroccans, however, did wake up in the dying minutes and put up a spirited display but by then the young Kenyans had done enough to make it through to the semis.

Kenya head coach Mitch Ocholla praised the team for the victory.

"This is the first time the boys have played together in a competitive match and I think they blended very well," said Ocholla.

"We still have some work to do if we want to beat Namibia on Friday, but from what I have seen it is very encouraging for us as a technical bench and as a team"

Kenya will play Namibia on Friday in what is expected to be a high octane semi-final as the Southern Africa side are the top seeded team in the tournament.

Training session

Namibia had earlier in the day whitewashed Zambia 85-0 in a one sided match that looked more like a training session for the continental rugby powerhouse.

The second game of the day also saw Zimbabwe dismiss Uganda 17-0, to set up a semi-final date with Tunisia who blanked out Kenya select 45-5 in the third match of the day.

Kenya select were not as fortunate as the first team and they simply could not hold together leading to the thrashing from a well-drilled Tunisian outfit.