Butali, Greensharks face-off as race for title hots up

What you need to know:

  • The 2016 champions Butali are better-placed to scale to the men’s league summit when they take on Kenya Colleague of Accountancy University (KCA-U) on Saturday at 6pm before facing Greensharks on Sunday at 7.30am.

The Kenya Hockey Union’s men and women’s top flight leagues leads could change hands again this weekend with top guns Greensharks, Kenya Police, Butali Sugar Warriors and women’s champions Telkom in action at City Park Stadium.

The 2016 champions Butali are better-placed to scale to the men’s league summit when they take on Kenya Colleague of Accountancy University (KCA-U) Saturday at 6pm before facing Greensharks on Sunday at 7.30am.

Of great interest will be the Butali-Greensharks duel which bullies off at 7.30am on Sunday, with the teams only set to battle for only 30 minutes.

The two teams had faced off on April 14 but the match was rained off at half time where Butali was leading 2-0 courtesy of a brace from new signing George Mutira.

Victories for Butali against the KCA-U and Greensharks should take them to the top with 21 points but it will be interesting if Greensharks would turn the tables on them the way they did against Police three weeks ago.

Greensharks rallied from 3-0 down to stun Police 4-3, a victory that contributed to their rise in the league where they lead with 16 points from five wins and a draw.

Last weekend, Butali moved to second place with 15 points following their fifth consecutive victory, crushing Parklands Sports Club 4-0 at City Park.

Last season, Greensharks threw spanners into Butali’s title defence, forcing a 1-1 draw before stunning them 3-1. Butali won all their matches against KCA-U 2-1 and 3-0 respectively last season.

“We know they will come forcefully on us, eying to offset the two goals deficit but we shall meet them with brutal force,” said Butali coach Dennis Owoka. “They have had good comeback wins but this is Butali.”

Owoka will be without his defenders Saidi Rashid and Maxwell Fuchuka, who have other commitments but has Constant Wakura, Tony Nyikuri and Robert Amandi to cover up.

“The boys are psyched up and have belief that they can overturn the deficit for another victory against Butali,” said Greensharks coach Nixon Nyaganga.

Police have a tough battle against Nairobi Simba on Sunday where Meshack Senge’s Strathmore are up against Wazalendo with United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) tackling Parklands.

Women’s champions Telkom open the busy weekend on Saturday at 12pm against Vikings. A win for Telkom should see them dislodge Strathmore Scorpions from the top of the log.

Scorpions dislodged Telkom from the top of the women’s Premier League when they humbled Sliders 3-1 last weekend. Scorpions have 12 points from four wins while Telkom have nine from three wins.

FIXTURES

Saturday

Premier League-women: Vikings v Telkom (12pm)-City Park

Premier League men: Nakuru v USIU (1pm) Nakuru; Western Jaguars v Parkroad Badgers (3pm) Kakamega; KCA-U v Butali (6pm) City Park

National League-men: UON v Mombasa West (9am) City Park; Karate Axiom v UoE (2pm) City Park; Tigers v Mombasa West (4pm) City Park

Super League-men: Kabarak University v Wazalendo Masters (3pm) Nakuru

Sunday

Premier League-men: Greensharks v Butali Sugar Warriors (7.30am) City Park; USIU v v Parklands SC (1pm) City Park; Strathmore v Wazalendo (3pm) City Park; Kenya Police v Sikh Union (5pm) City Park

Super League-men: Sunday, Kabarak University v Chase Sailors (11am) Nakuru; TUK v Kimathi University (11am) City Park