By BS MULAVI

Nakuru RFC kicked off their campaign in the second leg of the Kenya Cup on a high by registering their first victory of the season in a resounding 22-18 win over inconsistent Nondies at the Jamhuri Park.

Nakuru coach, Eric Situma, described the victory as the best start he could wish for especially because they were playing an away fixture.

"This is a victory we will truly cherish," he said. "We came here knowing it was going to be very hard and I give credit to the hosts, who have given us a hard time. We rose to the occasion and squeezed out the victory," he added ecstatically.

Situma is hoping this is only the beginning of their ascent in the Kenya Cup table, with the Rift Valley side scheduled to play troubled Strathmore next weekend, a fixture they could also easily win if they get their systems working right.

KCB WIN

At the University of Nairobi, Kenya Commercial Bank Coach Howard Okwemba remained humble in their 60-23 victory over Mean Machine, saying they had conceded too many points, which put a damper on the number of tries they had scored.

"I can’t say it was a big win because the strategy we had for them was to concede as few points as possible," said the new KCB head. "But credit goes to the boys for scoring the 60 points. It is not easy to score that many points, so we also have to look at the positives," he added.

Okwemba had a special word of praise for eighth man, Francis Bwita, whom he said was exceptional in his Kenya Cup debut.

"Francis has come straight from school and has played very well, which is commendable for a person of his age."

At the Railways Club, Impala RFC got off to a disastrous start to the second leg, going down 31-22 to hosts Mwamba. Impala coach, Bill Githinji blamed the Christmas break for his team’s lack of coordination and concentration.

"We haven’t trained well, with some players not attending the sessions and this adversely affected our set plays," he lamented. However, the former Kenya Sevens Coach had a word of praise for his opponents, who he said caused his team some trouble.

"Mwamba played very well and deserved victory. For us, it is now back to the drawing board."

At the Impala Grounds, league leaders and defending champions Kenya Harlequin maintained their 100 per cent record in the Kenya Cup with a 47-7 drubbing of Strathmore RFC.

The champs have collected a bonus point in all of their fixtures and have an 11-point gap between them Impala. The champions look set to retain their title.