Kenya Police back to the summit of table with win against Western Jaguars

By Elizabeth Mburugu and ERICK OCHIENG’

Former champions Kenya Police have returned to the summit of the table with a resounding 3-0 win against visiting Western Jaguars in the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) men’s Premier League played at City Park Stadium on Sunday evening.

Multimedia University was not left out in the winning spree as they thrashed National Youth Service (NYS) 6-0 courtesy of the latter’s lousy defence.

Technical University of Kenya (TUK) teams also soared high hitting Kenyatta University 2-1 in the men’s National League and edging Multimedia University 1-0 in the women National League to better their chances of grabbing the title this year.

VOLATILE ENCOUNTER

Police’s Samuel Wokila found the back of the boards just three minutes into play with a superb field goal that left Western Jaguar’s custodian Hope Kutwa clutching thin air in the volatile encounter of the two rivals.

Jaguars almost leveled five minutes later but their hopes were thwarted by the strong defence Police had mounted.

Marksman Moses Cheplaiti worsened things for Jaguar when he netted a brace in the 18th and 31st minutes to seal the match deal.

“We are a better side but Jaguars played well. We could have scored more than six goals, but their defence stopped us,’’ Kenya Police head coach Kenneth Kaunda told FeverPitch.

The men in uniform started the game well by playing long balls and showing their dribbling prowess of attacking and counter attacking in the match they fully dominated.

On the other hand, Jaguars struggled throughout the match, losing on ball possession as a result of poor passes.

SECOND LOSS

This was Western Jaguars’ second loss in a row. The Kakamega based club suffered a 2-1 defeat to Mombasa Sports Club (MSC) on Saturday in their first Premier League fixture at the same venue.

“We lost all our matches at the weekend. Losing two matches in a row is not good but this is due to the challenges we face as a club,” a disappointed Jaguars captain Kevin Lugalia told FeverPitch.

“We don’t train together as a team, the only time we get to be together is when we play league matches, and this affects our performance.’’

Jaguars season opening match against neighbours Kisumu Simba was postponed the other weekend and will be played at a later date yet to be set by the KHU.

In another Premier League encounter MSC  held Greensharks to a barren draw.

The Mombasa-based club left Nairobi a happy lot boasting of four hard earned points and an unbeaten record.

“I am very happy, we have  recorded our first win in Nairobi,’’ a jovial MSC captain George Olang said.