Kaya Tiwi beats Nyakach to retain crown
Sports
By
Washington Onyango
| Aug 04, 2019
Kaya Tiwi are the 2019 Kenya Secondary Schools National netball champions.
They defeated home team Nyakach Girls 36-30 in a tightly-contested match that was a reenactment of last year’s finals only that it was marred with controversy.
The defending champions started on the right footing and led 8-6 after the first quarter and further took the scores to 19-11 thanks to scores from twins Melda and Monica Oguda.
After the break, Nyakach returned strongly with shooter Ephy Awuor scoring more than 10 points but it was at the end of the third quarter that fans stormed onto the pitch protesting at poor officiating by the umpires.
It took the intervention of the match commissioner and police officers that restored order and Kaya Tiwi held on to defeat the Nyanza region champions for the second year running.
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Kaya Tiwi coach Maryanne Obonyo said she was happy with the win despite tension in the match and promised to work closely with Nyakach as they seek Kenya’s maiden East Africa title.
“Congratulations to the girls and Nyakach also for a very entertaining match. We are all winners at the end since we are going to be the face of Kenya in Tanzania. The game was tough, fast and emotional but I am happy we won,” she said.
Her Nyakach counterpart Sally Keta blamed the loss on poor officiating. “The umpires took interest in the match and favoured the champions. We were being penalised for mistakes that were not clear while the opponent’s numerous fouls were ignored. The game was not fair and the federation should improve on that next year.”
“We have qualified for the East African games and our focus now shifts to training hard with an aim of improving on our last year’s performance,” Keta said.
Kaya Tiwi have now won the title three times in four years with their first coming in 2016 when they edged out former champions Obambo Mixed in Embu.