An entertaining match day eight fixture at the KCB Sports Club in Ruaraka saw leaders KCB stay top of the log with a 59-16 victory over a pluck Catholic Monks on Saturday 4 February 2023.
It was a given that the bankers would emerge victorious, but the manner of victory is not what many a rugby fan had fathomed, for the Monks put a dogged resistance, one that they can certainly take pride in.
It was also a match that saw the sons of former KCB team mates Dan Ouma and Andy Kimwele feature on opposite sides of the divide, Ouma’s son Peter Otieno turning out for the Monks with Kimwele’s son, Mike, turning out for KCB.
Now, to matters on the pitch.
The Monks took the game to KCB early on, having the bankers on the backfoot for the opening ten minutes. The hosts, with their first foray into the visitors 22, went ahead through captain Curtis Lilako. Darwin Mukidza converted for a 7-0 lead after twelve minutes of play.
The Monks would soon lose Victor Omupere to the sin bin but their 14 men put pressure on KCB, scoring two successive penalties through the boot of Sam Otieno in the 18th and 20th minute.
They lost they opportunity to go ahead when Otieno’s 26th minute penalty bounced off the posts, much to the relief of KCB who then added a second try in the 29th minute through Mike Kimwele, Mukidza sure with the extras for a 14-6 lead.
KCB indiscipline saw them concede a penalty four minutes later, Otieno drilling it home for a 14-9 score but tries from Peter Waitere and Thomas Okidia, both converted by Mukidza saw KCB take a 28-9 lead into the break.
Lilako added his second after the restart, Mukidza converting for a 35-9 score before Andrew Amonde landed two tries in 13 minutes, Mukidza converting one as KCB lead 47-9 on the hour mark.
The ensuing period of the game remained topsy turvy, but the bankers breached the fifty point barrier through Elphas Adunga’s 67th minute try but the Monks, ever so present in this fixture, got their first ry of the match, Omupere atoning for his first half yellow card with a clever try, Otieno converting to make it 52-16.
Waitere then landed his brace at the stroke of full time, Mukidza converting to confirm the result.