Defending champions KCB edged hosts Resolution Impala Saracens on Saturday 11 October to reach the Impala Floodies semi final.
The last match on the opening day of the tournament provided entertainment value, keeping fans captivated for the entire 80 minutes that referee Raymond Oruo handled this encounter.
KCB were forced into a very early substitution, throwing on Peter Waitere for Philip Wamae who had to depart the field of play concussed after three minutes of play.
The opening twenty or so minutes were cagey, no side with the clear dominance. KCB would attempt to go for goal following an Impala infringement but Marlin Mukolwe’s attempt sailed wide of the sticks. They would fall behind two minutes later when fluid ball movement from Impala saw them gain good ground, eventually drawing a penalty off the bankers with Sammy Oliech slotting it home for a 3-0 lead.
Mukolwe would miss a second goal attempt for the bankers who were flailing early on as the hosts Impala grew in confidence. Impala would pressure KCB, doubling their lead courtesy of Oliech’s second penalty, the scores 6-0 after 32 minutes of play.
Oliech then would step past two KCB players, taking the gap and gaining ground before offloading to his support player Anthony Nyandigisi who grounded to give Impala an 11-0 lead.
KCB would make a second substitution just before half time, throwing on Felix Wanjala for Mukolwe at half back.
Impala would take the 11-0 lead into the breather.
KCB dominated the opening two minutes after the restart, drawing a penalty off Impala and electing to go for touch. They retained possession from the resultant line out, Peter Karia scoring off the maul to score his side’s first try, the scores now 11-5.
This drew a response out of Impala who scored through the evergreen Paul Oimbo to go 16-5 up. The bankers were still in this encounter, Brian Omondi touching down to bring the scores to 16-10. They would grow in confidence, Wanjala pulling the strings, allowing his forwards to gain a foothold on the match. Wanjala would eventually score with Essau Otieno converting to see the bankers go ahead for the first time in this match, the scores 17-16 in their favor.
Ken Moseti, on as a second half substitute, extended the bankers lead with a 66th minute drop goal to make it 20-16 but Impala stayed in pursuit of the match, Oliech stroking home his third penalty five minutes later to bring the hosts to within one point of the defending champions.
Impala would play the remaining six minutes with 14 men after skipper Duncan Ekasi was yellow carded and KCB seized the opportunity to score their third try off a rolling maul, 25-19 the score with three minutes to play.
Needing a converted try to win this, Impala would be let down by a handling error inches close to the KCB try line, losing possession and momentum as Oruo soon blew his whistle to signal full time.