School games: St Anthony's off to winning start

St Anthony's football team from Kitale (in red) vs Shimba hills High school from Kwale county during the Kenya Secondary Schools Association term two national ball games at Moi Stadium in Kisumu county on July 30th 2019. The match ended 1-0 in favour of St. Anthony's. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

St Anthony's Boys Kitale yesterday got off their campaign to win back the under-19 football title with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Shimba Hills as the National Secondary School Term Two Games commenced in Kisumu.

Daniel Musamali's brilliant free-kick at the hour mark settled the pool A contest as the Coastal school paid the price of wasting several chances especially in the opening 20 minutes at the Moi Stadium.

After a barren first half in which Shimba Hills dominated their opponents, St Anthony's, who have won the national title five times, improved after the break and Musamali's moment of magic settled the contest.

Also winning their opening A pool match were last year's losing finalists, Olbolsat, who handed North Eastern representatives Banisi Mixed Secondary School a 6-1 thrashing at the Kisumu Boys grounds.

Back at Moi Stadium, St Anthony's skipper Titus Kapachanga believes his side will get better as the competition progresses, warning other teams to expect a bruising battle.

"We had a slow start today but we were able to get into our element and controlled the match from then on. It is always important to get a good start and we build on that result, " Kapchanga said yesterday.

His Shimba Hills equal Hassan Mwinyi blamed their wastefulness in front of goal for the defeat.

"This is a disappointing result because we had so many chances to win this game but we failed to put them away. Hopefully, we will improve in our second match, " he said.

In the boys under 16 Copa Coca Cola challenge, Koyonzo and Serani launched their quests on a high with victories in their respective Group A matches.

Koyonzo from Western and Coast's Serani won by an identical score of 2-0 against Gatamaiyu and Goseta of Central and Rift Valley respectively. Koyonzo outclassed their opponents from the onset but failed to utilize several scoring chances.

Wellington Andayi was on target to give Koyonzo the lead in the 22nd minute. Gatamaiyu's efforts to restore parity were met by an unrelenting Koyonzo defence as they hang on to their lead by the breather. Fredrick Baraka made it two for Koyonzo seconds in the second half to give the Western champions a perfect start. 

Goseta who are looking to ensure that the title won by St Anthony's remain in Rift Valley began on the wrong footing after falling to Serani. Juma Mwinyi and Sufi Mohammed scored for Serani in the 42nd and 51st minutes.

Today's fixtures

Under 19 

Girls
Njabini v Gesero
St John's Kaloleni v Archbishop Njenga
Itigo v Nyakach
Karugwa v Dagoretti Mixed

Under 16

Boys
Boystown v Machakos 
Dagoretti High v Agoro Sare
Gatamaiyu v Goseta
Serani v Koyonzo 

Volleyball
Boys
Matiliku v Namwela
Langata v Boystown
Mogonga PAG v Tetu
Shimoni v Lelmokwo

Girls 
Kwanthanze v St John's Kaloleni
Passenga v Makaror
Soweto v Bishop Sulumeti 
Sega v Cheptil