With the stick firmly in their hands, Strathmore focus on raising the bar
Hockey
By
Washington Onyango
| Nov 15, 2022
The 2022 Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) women's Premier League will be Strathmore University Scorpions' to lose after defending champions Blazers (formerly Telkom) dropped two crucial points over the weekend.
Blazers drew 0-0 against struggling United States International University (USIU) Spartans at City Park last Saturday, a result that clearly handed the title to leaders Strathmore with three rounds left to the end of the season.
The university students are currently top of the seven-team league with 25 points, nine points ahead of Blazers, who are third with 16 points. Lakers from Kisumu, who were not in action, are second on 17 points.
The record Kenyan champions needed to beat USIU Spartans to stand a chance of taking the title fight to the wire but the draw gave their rivals a chance to win the top prize.
Scorpions will be crowned new champions of women's KHU Premier League if they avoid defeat against Spartans on Saturday and Blazers fail to win on their trip to play Lakers in Kisumu.
A win for Strathmore and defeat for Blazers will mathematically rule out the multiple time champions from getting closer to their rivals. Lakers are out of title contention having played a game more than the two Nairobi-based clubs.
For the defending champions to retain the title, they need to win by a bigger goal margin, while praying for Scorpions to lose all their remaining three matches, an outcome that is highly unlikely.
The Meshack Senge-coached outfit are unbeaten in their opening nine matches where they have won eight and drawn one. Victory against USIU will push them to 28 points, a gap that will be unassailable if Blazers fall in the lakeside.
The leaders defeated USIU 2-1 during the first leg encounter on October 20 and if their form is anything to go by, many will expect them to see off the struggling Spartans who have not won a match since April.
USIU are currently fourth on the log with 10 points and have drawn thrice and lost twice in their last five matches.
In the men's Premier League, Wazalendo moved fourth in the standings after thrashing Greensharks 6-2 in an eight-goal thriller match at City Park last Sunday.
Cliff Omari scored five goals as Mathew Mutiso sealed the rout with Adan Salat and Daniel Obunyasi getting the consolation goals for Sharks.
The win saw them leapfrog USIU men to fourth on 19 points, a point more than the university side who have played two games more.
USIU dropped to fifth after failing to defeat bottom placed Mombasa Sports Club who held them to a 0-0 draw. The Coast side also held Kenya Police to a 0-0 draw on Saturday. player walked down the tunnel with a few minutes of the match remaining after being left on the bench.