Strathmore Leos bullish ahead of tie against Impala

Alvine Marube (Left) of Impala Saracens tackled by Felix Okita of Top Fry Nakuru during their Kenya Cup Fixture at Impala Club in Nairobi on July 10, 2021. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Strathmore Leos will be seeking to maintain a 100 percent start to the 2021-2022 Kenya Cup season when they welcome Impala Saracens today at Strathmore grounds in Makadara, Nairobi.

The university students are joint top of the Kenya Cup standings with 10 points alongside Kabras Sugar and Menengai Oilers after winning two opening matches against Mwamba (38-18) and Nakuru (30-11).

Speaking to the Standard Sports ahead of the match, Leos captain Gabriel Adero who has been instrumental in the team’s perfect start to the new campaign, said they are hungry for more victory and are ready to show their might this season.

“Last season was tough especially after the stoppages due to Covid-19 disruption and we were able to grace the playoffs and reach the semis where we lost to Kabras Sugar.

“That performance from the team showed how much the players were willing to sacrifice despite the challenges we faced.

"This season we hope things will be much better health wise and we are ready to show our strength and go further to the finals,” said the St Peters Mumias Boys alumni.

Impala on the other hand has had a rough start to the new campaign after losing two opening matches against Kenya Harlequin and Oilers.

High flying Masinde Muliro University (MMUST) will travel to the Rugby Football Union of East Africa grounds to play Quins with an eye of maintaining an unbeaten start to the campaign.

Last season, MMUST scored a last gap try to force a 17-17 draw.

The Kakamega-based students have collected eight points after missing on two bonus point wins in their victories against Nondies (24-15) and Homeboyz (22-17) and captain Kevin Abuga cannot wait to lead the team to victory in their first away game.

“The boys are psyched up and ready to play especially after our relentless performances in the two games. However, that will not matter against Quins since we have to play even better than before to win,” said Abuga.

The KCB Sports Club will host a double header with Homeboyz playing Blak Blad in the early kick off match from 1pm before defending champions KCB host Top Fry Nakuru.

Oilers will entertain Nondies at Nakuru ASK grounds as last season’s runners up Kabras Sugar host Mwamba in Kakamega.