Runaway leaders Telkom and Police march on in title race

Kenya Police and Telkom inched closer to winning this season’s Kenya Hockey Union men and women’s Premier League titles after the weekend’s round of matches.

Both teams won their respective matches to maintain their unbeaten run as the season nears its conclusion.

Kenya Police were ruthless in their 4-0 win over Parkroad Badgers on Sunday evening to secure their 19th win from 20 matches. They are on 58 points with eight games left to play this season.

Goals from Samuel Wokila, Amos Barkibir, Moses Cheplaiti and Calvins Kanu were enough to sink the Badgers.

Four more wins from their last eight matches will give them their first league title since 2013 but it could be less if second placed Butali Sugar Warriors, who are on 45 points, drop points in their run in.

Police coach Kenneth Kaunda has urged his charges to keep their ‘feet on the ground’.

“I think we have so far played well and everything is going according to plan. We however cannot afford to get complacent because our rivals are on out back and will be ready to pounce,” Kaunda said.

Butali, who won their third match in the space of five days, have vowed to fight till the end and hope that their rivals drop some points.

“We will take it to the wire and do everything within our reach but it is a tall order because they (Police) are playing really well,” Butali skipper Kenneth Nyongesa said. Greensharks, who play Chase Sailors on Wednesday, dropped to third with 45 points with USIU (38) and Wazalendo (35) completing the top five places.

At the bottom, Technical University of Kenya’s hopes of remaining in the top flight continued to dwindle as they drew 0-0 with Nakuru. The result left the students bottom on six points, 15 points away from safety with seven matches left.

In the women’s Premier League, Telkom’ march to a record 20th title continued after hard-fought 3-2 win over arch-rivals Strathmore University Scorpions.

Telkom, who conceded their first goal after keeping 13 clean sheets, are on 42 points with six matches left. Telkom assistant coach Josephine Ataro said a win against second-placed USIU Spartans this weekend will leave them in pole position for the title.

“We just have to dig deep and keep our shape because the season is getting tougher as the games come to an end,” she said.