Warriors thump Parkroad: Hockey Former champions bounce back with crucial win

Africa Cup Championship at City Park. Kenya Butali Sugar celebrate after beating Eastern 2-0 when they played Africa Cup Championship at City Park. ON 11/01/2017 PHOTO; JENIPHER WACHIE

Amira go down to USIU in another league encounter.

Former champions Butali Sugar Warriors yesterday bounced back from last weekend's 1-1 draw against Nakuru to beat Parkroad Badgers 3-0 in a Kenya Hockey Union men's Premeir League match at City Park Stadium, Nairobi.

A brace from Vincent Odhiambo and and a goal by Hanningtone Odhiambo secured three points for Butali. A delighted Butali captain Kenneth Nyongesa said that they fought hard because they really needed the win.

"We really needed to win because we wanted to avoid dropping more points. We fought from the onset and I'm glad our efforts paid off," Nyongesa said.

Butali took the lead on the 13th minute as Otieno finished off a well worked move. Butali struggled to add more goals before finally making the points safe in the final quarter as Odhiambo hit a brace in the space of three minutes.

Elsewhere, United States International University of Africa Spartans thrashed Amira Sailors 2-0 in a women's encounter. Two second half goals from Ruth Wangeci and Sandra Vodoti were enough to give Spartans their sixth victory of the season.

The win saw the students consolidate second spot on the log. Spartans captain Beatrice Mbugua said that hard work and fighting spirit won the match for them.

"Our aim is to secure a club championship place and this result confirmed that we are serious. We neutralised their attacks and this allowed us to control the match hence the encouraging result," Mbugua said.

The two sides engaged in a goalless battle for the better part of the match as they both tried to in vain to take the lead. Wangeci broke the deadlock with a successful penalty corner in the 43rd minute to give the students a 1-0 lead at the break of the third quarter.

Amira struggled to create chances in the match with star player Pauline Naise lacking supply upfront. She did manage to create two chances for her teammates, but Susan Oketch was unable to complete the job.

Earlier, Vikings beat Multimedia University 1-0 at the same venue. A last minute winner by Jacinta Nthenya secured the win for Vikings.