Kenya Harlequins secured their first win of the season as they tamed the Impala Gazelles with a 27-20 win at the Impala Grounds.
Kevin Angote was first on the scoresheet as he went over the whitewash in the ninth minute giving Quins an early lead. Flyhalf Evin Asena added the extras, Quins leading 0-7. 17 minutes later, infringements by Quins saw Impala take the lead as Martin Juma slotted in a penalty kick that was followed by a converted try scored by Erick Kerre and converted Juma.
Impala taking the 10-7 lead at the breather.
In the second half, the hosts landed two tries through their backline. Edmund Anya evaded his defenders on the right-wing as he made his way to the try line to land a corner post try. This eventual conversion was unsuccessful. Impala’s second try was scored by the young Anderson Oduor. An infringement by Quins saw Samson Onsomu take a quick tap of the ball followed by a well-educated kick and chase whose lucky bounce landed in the hands of Oduor. He would then step an oncoming defender before dancing past a second one to dive over the whitewash, the conversion was also unsuccessful.
PHOTO/DENIS EKANUSU
“Losing a derby is always difficult no matter what time of the season. In the context of our level of fitness or whether we’re ready to compete, I think as a technical team, we’re happy with that. However, we gave away too many penalties that eventually cost us. I’d also congratulate Quins because they played really well and had good mauls that resulted in two tries,” said Oscar Osir, Impala Saracens Assistant Coach.
Quins on the other hand scored 20 points in this half as Brian Waraba landed a brace with Asena converting on of his tries while the other eight points were one unconverted try by Philip Ikambili and a penalty kick by Xavier Kipng’etich.
Speaking after the match, Quins Head Coach Antoinne Plasman said that he is happy with the team’s performance although they still have a lot of work to do going forward. ”I’m glad to have Philip Ikambili back to training together with the full squad and seeing as he scored a try and so did Brian Waraba who’s also a hooker, it’s good to have this competition between the players during the training sessions and on match day,”
In the early kick-off match pitting Mwamba against Blakblad, the students bagged their first win of the season beating Kulabu 24-17 at the Impala Grounds. While away at the ASK Nakuru Showgrounds, hosts Menengai Oilers went back to their winning ways as they handed Top Fry Nakuru a 20-21 loss.
Oilers scored two penalties and one converted try in the first half while Nakuru landed one try and slotted in one penalty kick for the halftime scores to read 11-8 in favor of the hosts. The second half saw Oilers add an extra eleven points while Nakuru registered twelve points to their tally Full match score reading 20-21 in favor of the hosts.
Collated Match Day 3 FT scores
Mwamba 17 – Blakblad 24
Impala Saracens 20 – Kenya Harlequins 27
Menengai Oilers 21 – Top Fry Nakuru 20