Kenya Police juggernaut rolls on

Kenya Police maintained their unbetean run in this season's Kenya Hockey Union men's Premier League after a 1-0 win over USIU on Saturday at the City Park Stadium, Nairobi.

Captain Oliver Echenje's 36th minute strike settled the tight contest, moving the law enforcers to 61 points, 15 ahead of second placed Greensharks who are not in action this weekend.

Police, who are seeking to reclaim the title they won in 2013, are now three wins away from clinching the crown.

In another men's top flight match, two goals in the last 10 minutes helped Chase Sailors beat former champions Sikh Union Nairobi 2-1.

Nixon Amadi and Douglas Nyerere struck in the space of two minutes to give the Sailors a 2-0 lead with nine minutes left. Sikh pulled a goal back three minutes from time through the legendary Inderjit ‘Cooly’ Matharu but were unable to complete the comeback as the bankers held on for the three points.

The win moved Sailors two places up to eighth and they now have 25 points, seven points clear of the relegation zone. Sailors coach William Oketch praised his charges for their fighting spirit.

“We improved as the match went on and the two goals in the last quarter were the turning point. Two more wins will guarantee our safety in the league this season,” the former Kenya international said.

The result left Sikh in sixth place with 31 points from 21 matches.

In men’s National League, Impala improved their chances of securing promotion to next season’s top-flight league after securing a 3-0 win over Gorilla at the same venue.

A brace from Kelvin Ronoh and a further goal from Peter Cajetan gave the Ngong Road-based side the three points. The win took Impala to second place in pool A with 27 points, three behind leaders Wazalendo Masters.

The winners from the two pools in the second-tier league will earn promotion to next season’s top flight, and Impala’s win saw them improve their chances of clinching top spot.

Impala have two matches left this season against Daystar and Mvita and will be hoping to win both and hope the leaders’ drop points in their final two matches.

Impala coach Amai Olubayi is hoping that this will be their year after narrowly missing out on promotion this season.

“We have been here before and this time we hope things will go according to plan and our dream of playing in the Premier League becomes a reality.

“We just need to keep grinding out wins in the last two matches and hope that our opponents drop points,” the coach said.

Gorilla had kept out their opponents in the opening three quarters before their defence was finally breached in the 43rd minute as Ronoh’s sliced shot sailed past Gorrila keeper Fulgence Ondoro.

Impala doubled their lead in the last seven minutes as Ronoh was again made space for himself before sounding the boards.

They made the points safe in the last five minutes through another field goal.  In the women’s Premier League, University of Nairobi played out a 1-1 draw with Multimedia University.