There were only three Kenya Cup fixtures on Saturday 13 March 2021, but they certainly were exciting ones.
The derbies in Nairobi and Nakuru lived up to their billing.
Ngong Road Derby
Kenya Harlequin topped Resolution Impala Saracens 27-20 at the Impala Club.
This game was full of edge of the seat stuff, the lead changing hands between the two sides for the better part of eighty minutes.
For Quins, a solid team performance saw them navigate this clash. Coach Antoine Plasman singled out flanker Edward Shitanda for his defensive duties. Other standouts for Quins included Brian Waraba who scored a brace,Patrice Agunda and Lyle Asiligwa whose territorial kicking help pin back Impala.
Sam Onsomu gave an assured performance for Impala at scrum half. Edmund Anya had a hand in two tries for the hosts, easily beating his defenders on both occasions to first set up a platform for Eric Kerre to score before scoring one of his own.
Diminutive Anderson Oduor,on debut for Impala, put out a solid performance at fullback. The full of running Oduor was rewarded with a try that was a thing of beauty. He chased his own kick, gathering it after the bounce deceived Quins scrum half Xavier Kipng’etich to score on his first Kenya Cup outing.
Derbies always elicit passion and it was inevitable that Mark Mongo (Quins) and Billy Arigi (Impala) would be sin binned within minutes of each other,probably as a result of the occasion getting to them.
The Nakuru Derby was equally a close contest,Menengai Oilers winning by one point, running off with the 21-20 result over cross town rivals Top Fry Nakuru.
Blak Blad registered their first win of the campaign, defeating Mwamba 24-17 in the day’s early kick off.
Blak Blad’s Brian Wahinya had another strong performance at scrum half as his side registered a 24-17 win over Mwamba in the day’s early kick off.
Other standouts for Blad were captain Ian Obukwa who made a lot of midfield inroads for the varsity students. Dennis Opiyo also put in a big shift in the backrow while Arcadius Khwesa took over the kicking duties from Lionel Ekesa, scoring 11 points off three penalties and a conversion to lead Blad to victory.
Tony Owuor was a bright spark for Mwamba, dominating from the base of the scrum, getting the 1983 champions crucial meters forward every time he carried the ball. Ugandan winger Nicholas Kato looked sharp every time he was in possession, and was even rewarded with a try.
Joel Inzuga showed the presence of mind to pursue his grubber kick, touching down for probably the try of the game.
The replacement half back pairing of Martin Oyugi and Charles Kuka raised Mwamba’s tempo…they’ll probably start the next fixture.