Newbies Lakers go second after draw

Lakers Alice Owiti (right) during a past league match. [Courtesy]

Newbies Lakers Hockey Club moved to second place in the standings after playing to a barren draw against Amira Sailors in a Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Women Premier League match at Simba Club in Kisumu yesterday.

The lakeside outfit failed to register a win at their home ground for the fourth time after previously drawing with Sliders, Telkom and United States International University (USIU-A)

The draw however saw them leapfrog USIU-A to second position in the log with eight points after six matches, three less than defending champions Telkom.

Speaking after the match, Lakers head coach Brian Aduda rued missed chances but said he was happy with the result despite missing a chance to close the gap on Telkom.

“The girls played well today and I think we were unlucky once again. We are yet to win at home and with that we are losing points in bid to close the gap on Telkom,” Aduda said.

Aduda also blamed the winless run on lack of team training claiming majority of the players don’t get time to train together due to academic commitments.

“We are a young team with talented and youthful women who study in different universities. Because of their academic obligations, they are forced to train alone in various schools rather than a team training here in Kisumu. That has hindered our preparations,” he said.

The first quarter of the match saw lethal twins Alice and Maurine Owiti combine for their first attempt in goal in an even start.

No opportunities were created in the second quarter with the two defences standing tall to deny strikers a shot at goal.

However, the third quarter witnessed some brilliance with the host captain Linah Baraza and striker Auralia Opondo testing Sailors stopper Mariana Kimani.

The fourth quarter was however in the visitors favour after Linet Lusinde and Cindy Walucho forced home goalkeeper Effie Adhiambo into vital saves.

Lakers defender Ashley Akinyi then saved her team from defeat after clearing out a dangerous short corner before Adhiambo made a save of her own to deny Sailors at the death.

Sailors coach Jayala Asimba praised his charges for coming out of Kisumu with a point.

“A draw for us is good because we were playing a very good team in Lakers and I am happy we got a point from Kisumu. We have a game in hand which gives us an advantage of even surpassing Lakers if we win,” Asimba said.