NYERI, Kenya, Nov 18 – Busia Girls and Homabay boys’ county teams have progressed to the national finals of the Talanta Hela U19 tournament after picking their third wins of the play-off series in Nyeri on Saturday.
Busia was in sublime form, thrashing Uasin Gishu 3-0 to move to nine points, while the flamboyant Homabay saw off Kisii 4-2 to also move to nine points, and securing a top two finish with one round of group matches left.
The top two finishers in each of the two groups in the boys and girls categories progress to the semis, and also earn a ticket to the national finals.
Already, 12 boys’ and 12 girls’ teams which won from the 12 regions have their nationals places secured, but a search is currently on in the play-offs to get four more teams to make the teams 16.
In the girls’ category, Busia had erstwhile picked victories over Migori (6-1) and Laikipia (9-0).
“I am delighted with the performance from the girls and the fact that we have attained our target of getting to the nationals. We have invested a lot in terms of preparation because this is a team that has trained together for a while. We even had a camp before this tournament,” said Edwin Sakwa, the Busia head coach.
He added; “It is still not over for us as much as we have qualified for the nationals. We still have our last group match and the semis of the play-off to think about. We want to keep the winning run going and win these play-offs.”
Busia totally dominant
Busia were totally dominant over the girls from the Rift Valley and led 2-0 at the break with goals in the 32nd and 37th minutes.
Millicent Akinyi broke the deadlock when she took a brilliant long range shot that beat the keeper. Skipper Lorna Faith Wasike then doubled the tally when she made a mazy run into the box before unleashing a well taken shot to beat the keeper.
The girls from Busia continued to dominate the duel in the second half, despite Uasin Gishu dumping all balls into their box trying to force their way back.
Captain Wasike however put the game to bed in the last minutes of the match when she tapped in from close range with a controlled left boot off a cross from the right.
Meanwhile in the boys’ pitch, crowd favourites Homa Bay thrashed Kisii with their third win of the tournament, having earlier beaten Kakamega and Nakuru both by 2-0 margins.
Flashy, well worked performance
“It feels good to have won and attained the ticket to the nationals. I have to appreciate the players for the effort they made and I thank them for putting in the effort, playing to instruction and delivering the result,” said the Homabay coach, George Omondi Ouma, who is a UEFA C coaching badge holder said.
Ouma, who spent 17 years coaching and playing in the lower leagues of the United States of America believes they have what it takes to go all the way and clinch the play-off and national titles.
“That’s our goal and that is why we are working hard. I want to thank our governor (Gladys Wanga) because she has been amazing in this journey, giving us this support and I want to dedicate this victory to her,” he added.
With their brand of football, Homabay have been seen as favourites in the tournament and they showed the same against Kisii, going into a 3-0 lead at halftime.
Cecil Miller broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute for his third goal of the tournament before Samson Onyango and Allan Odhiambo added two more in the 31st and 35th minutes.
Kisii attempt to mount comeback
In the second half, Kisii, who drew their first game came back determined to scale the three-goal mountain.
They would get one back in the 56th minute through Abednego Moriasi’s penalty, the latter taking responsibility after he had been appended.
However, their minute hopes of a comeback were thwarted with quarter of an hour to play when Kenyatta Onyango put the game to bed, stretching his foot to beat the keeper from a cross.
Moriasi scored once again from the penalty spot eight minutes to time, but it was all for statistic as Homabay had the game all wrapped up.
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