Lucky Seventh win: Orange rout hosts BAC 7-0 to retain Africa Cup of Clubs title

African hockey queens Orange Telkom routed hosts Bulawayo Athletics Club (BAC) 7-0 to successfully retain their Africa Cup of Clubs Championships trophy here at the Khumalo Stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

Digit seven seemed to be the magic number for the Kenyan girls as they scored seven goals to secure their seventh title. This was the second time in a row for the 16-time national champions to be crowned, meaning they get to keep the trophy for good.

Orange head coach Jos Openda told Feverpitch they had worked hard to achieve their objectives and dedicate their victory to the new Orange CEO Vincent Lobry and their fallen player, the late Betty Tiony.

“We have worked very hard to retained the title. We deserve it and will dedicate it to our CEO and I’m glad he gets to keep it for good. We also won it for Tiony, she was instrumental in our previous cup defence, scoring the winning goal in Kampala,” said the coach.

Openda was also full of praise for his team saying they stuck to their plans, remained focused and their efforts bore fruit. More so he lauded his defence unit for playing their hearts out.

“They all did well, my defence was superb. Caroline Guchu was the engine of the team taking charge of the midfield and playing her heart out. Tracy Nungari rose to the occasion and gave her best when we needed her most,” Openda added.

The Kenwyan girls went into the match with victory in their mind, knowing what was at stake. They began with attacks looking for early goals. Margret Rotich was close four minutes into play but her shot went above the goal.

They earned their first penalty corner in the tenth minute and international Lillian Aura was on point. She converted after it was pushed by Barbara Simiyu, stopped by Terry Juma then passed to her path by Captain Betsy Omalla.

They remained focused forcing BAC to play in their own half. Their efforts paid off in the 20th minute as veteran Hellen Chemtai tapped the ball past goalkeeper Christina Kondos.

A minute later Simiyu added a third for the reigning champions and Chemtai scored her second for the match and a seventh for the tournament in the 22nd minute.

Three minutes afterwards Guchu punished the BAC defence that let her on the loose on the left side of the circle to give Orange a 5-0 lead by the break.

In the second half, BAC looked like they were out to limit the damage and played defensively.

Experienced Jacqueline Mwangi put her name on the score sheet three minutes into the second half through a penalty corner. Guchu made it a brace in the 53rd minute to see Orange retain the title with a convincing 7-0 victory.

The country’s second representative Strathmore University Scorpions faltered in their third place play-offs to settle for fourth place. The fell 6-3 to Ghana Revenue Authority, who they had beaten 3-2 at the preliminary stage of the competition.