Pure sweetness as mental boost does it for Kabras Sugar

KCB and Kabras players battle at KCB Ruaraka grounds during a Kenya Cup match on November 30, 2019. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Coach Du Plessis says they will no longer have the fear factor in their subsequent meetings with KCB.

After guiding Kabras Sugar to their first victory over KCB, South African coach Henly Du Plessis termed the result as a psychological boost to his side.

The 19-6 win in Nairobi saw Du Plessis’ charges secure a maiden victory over the bankers at the 12th time of asking and consequently opening up a healthy four-point lead at the top of the 2019-20 Kenya Cup standings.

The match was, however, forced to end prematurely after referee Victor Oduor deemed the rain-soaked field at the KCB Sports Club unplayable mid-way through the second half but the visitors had the job already done having scored three tries and two conversions. 

“This is the year we really wanted to get a win over KCB and going forward, we don’t have to fear them anymore,” said Du Plessis.

Although they missed a winning bonus-point having failed to register four or more tries, the Kakamega outfit sits pretty at the top of the 12-team standings on 29 points, four more than KCB, who saw their gap with third-placed Homeboyz narrowed to one point.

“We had a game-plan which we stuck to. They put us under pressure but we survived that and kept them in their half and minimised our mistakes. Our territorial play was good because we knew KCB would be dangerous in our zone, so we were forcing them to play in their half,” added Du Plessis.

With Saturday’s result, Kabras are all but set to finish top during the regular season and this would ultimately see them host the final for the second successive season, should they go all the way.

In Nakuru, Menengai Oilers ended a three-match losing streak by beating Nondescripts 27-6 as Mwamba scraped a 15-13 victory at Kenya Harlequin.

Western Bulls overcame fellow returnees Kisumu RFC 23-5 while Nakuru RFC claimed a come-from-behind 30-20 win over Impala Saracens.

Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad lost 32-22 to Homeboyz.