Hockey: Butali Sugar Warriors on course for fourth title in a row

Butali players warmup before playing Jaguars during Kenya Hockey Premier league match at City Park stadium. October 1, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Defending champions Butali Sugar Warriors are on course to win their fourth Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) men's Premier League title in a row after stretching their unbeaten run to 13 matches last weekend.

The sugar men thrashed Parkroad Badgers 5-0 to stretch their lead at the top of the standings to 33 points, nine points ahead of second-placed Western Jaguars.

Constant Wakhura scored a brace while Kennedy Munialo, George Mutira and Calvins Kanu also joined in on the score sheet as the sugar men moved closer to retaining their title.

Butali have won the title in 2017, 2018, 2019 and they are now inching closer to claiming their fourth gong in a row. The KHU league was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

Warriors have played 13 matches, winning 10 and drawing three with five matches left till the end of the season.

Butali will be crowned champions if they win their next three matches in a row.

In Kakamega, Jaguars stunned Kenya Police 2-0 to move second in the log.

The duo are joint second on 24 points, although the law enforcers have an inferior goal difference. Jaguars has superior goal difference of 11 goals to Police's nine.

However, Police has one game in hand and can move second if they win this coming weekend.

Meanwhile, after going down to Butali on Saturday, Parkroad Badgers lost their 11th match of the season after narrowly going 1-0 down to Strathmore University Gladiators on Sunday.

The Badgers have lost 11 matches, won only two and are second-from-bottom with six points in the 10-team league.

Bottom-placed Mombasa Sports Club (MSC), who have four points from 11 matches, are also strong candidates to drop to the second tier at the end of the season.