Upper Hill, Olympic off to a flyer

Nairobi County secondary schools football champions Upper Hill and Olympic Mixed School started their title defence with resounding victories as the Nairobi County Term Two ‘B’ games got underway on Friday at Lenana School.

Olympic Girls thrashed Highridge 8-1 in their opening pool A match to underline their intentions of holding on to their crown. Four goals from striker Sharon Adhiambo and a brace each from Amina Foudo and Queenter Atieno set the champions on their way to an emphatic win.

Olympic coach John Orao was impressed by his team’s victory but warned that the competition would get tough as the team advances to the latter stages of the event.

“It was important to win and assess whether we have improved. It was a great match we dominated and scored some beautiful goals but we have to improve going forward,” Orao said.

Highridge were unable to compete with their opponents who showed their class taking a 5-0 half-time lead. Mercy Chege scored Highridge’s consolation goal three minutes to the end.

Upper Hill on their part thumped Kahawa Garrison 6-1 to move top of pool A with three points. A hat-trick from Brian Omondi inspired the 2013 national champions to victory as they seek a third straight county football crown.

Ramadhan Abdallah scored twice while Fredrick Okumu slotted in the sixth late on. Kevin Gitonga pulled a goal back for Garrison but it was too little too late for the Kasarani Constituency-based school.

COACH OPTIMISTIC

Upper Hill coach Joseph Makokha said his team was targeting the Metropolitan games in Machakos in a fortnight. In another match, Lang’ata Boys came from behind to salvage a point against Mogra Star in a pool C encounter.

In volleyball, champions Hospital Hill beat Eastleigh Boys 2-0 (25-12, 25-15) to start their title defence with a resounding win. The champions dominated their opponents, with skipper Cornelius Kiprono leading from the front with 12 points
Girls champions Soweto Academy also started on a winning note with a straight sets win over Garden Estate Secondary School. The Nairobi Queens were 25-5 and 25-9 winners in the match.

Last year’s finalists Buruburu Girls also recorded a 2-0 (25-12, 25- 17) win over Brown Hill Academy. Pangani Girls also recorded a 2-0 win (25-14, 25-19) over Our Lady of Fatima in another match.

Moi Forces Academy edged out St Justino 2-1 in another closely fought encounter. Last year’s finalists Eutychus School went down 0-2 (12-25, 15-25) to Baba Dogo.