CLEVER START FOR STRATHMORE STUDENTS: Leos take early lead in Kenya Cup after four rounds

KENYA CUP RUGBY KCB Fabian Olando(R) make a run with the ball against Humphrey Owuor of Strathmore during the Kenya Cup rugby match at Ruaraka ground on Saturday 07/02/15.PHOTO:BONIFACE OKENDO

Strathmore RFC and Kenya Harlequins remain the only unbeaten teams in the Kenya Cup after a thrilling match-day four on Saturday afternoon.

Strathmore University recorded the most notable victory of the weekend by narrowly beating defending Kenya Cup champions Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) 27-25 at the Railways club. Quins beat Nondies 20-10 at the RFUEA grounds.

The unbeaten streak means Strathmore are now at the summit of the table with 19 points while Quins follows them closely with 18 points. KCB have dropped to third where they have an equal number of points (16) with Impala.

Impala find themselves in fourth position after only losing one game in their campaign. On this particular weekend though, they emerged victorious by virtue of an emphatic 41-27 victory over Mwamba at the Railways club.

ATTACK EARLY

Speaking after the victory, Impala coach Fred Ollows said, “We knew we had to win and we knew how to do it.

“We studied their previous games and were prepared for the fact that they do not play all their good players in the first half, hoping that they can crank up the pressure in the second half with the vital substitutions.”

“We attacked early, got the points on the board and expectedly the second half wasn’t as easy as we would have wanted it to be,” he added. “We haven’t beaten them in the past three seasons, but we rectified that today and I am really happy for the team,” he concluded.

Ollows admits it is too early to comment on whether they are poised to win the Kenya Cup, saying that they will continue to play each game as it comes, but will not get distracted with title talk.

Impala are one point ahead of Nakuru who have also won three games but have not collected as many bonus points as Impala. The Rift Valley side recorded a 16-5 victory over Kabras. They are followed closely by Homeboyz who are also having a relatively good start to the season. In the bottom half of the table, Western Bulls, Thika and Sharks are yet to register victories in the league having lost to 25-21 to Homeboyz, Mean Machine 34-5 and Blak Blad 62-13.

saturday RESULTS

KCB 25 Strathmore Leos 27

Homeboyz 25 Western Bulls 21

Nondies 10 Kenya Harlequin 20

Kabras Sugar 5 Top Fry Nakuru 16

Mean Machine 34 Thika 5

Blak Blad 62 Kenya Sharks 13

Mwamba 27 Impala Saracens 41