Laiser Hill stun Upper Hill to clinch sevens title

Laiser Hill on Saturday won the sevens rugby title as the Metropolitan Region Secondary Schools Term Two ‘A’ ended at the Makueni Boys Secondary School.

The Kajiado County giants rallied from behind to upset holders Upper Hill from Nairobi County 19-12 in a charged final.

In Under-16 football, Olympic High (Nairobi) won the girls’ title after an emphatic 3-0 win over Matuu Memorial, while Utithi stunned highly fancied Upper Hill 1-0 to claim the boys’ title.

Makongeni High and Matuu Memorial reclaimed their boys’ and girls’ handball titles. Makongeni beat Nduluni 22-11 while Matuu prevailed 22-15 over Utithi in the boys’ and girls’ finals respectively.

Last year's champions New Jogoo Road Girls lost 8-16 to Lema in playoffs to finish a distant fourth while the Aquinas High (2014 boys’ champions) never went past the group stage.

Syumile are the new netball champions following their 57-22 win over Utithi in a repeat of the Makueni County final.

Laiser Hill captain Daniel Taabu inspired his team to victory after scoring a try and two conversions as the school avenged last year’s 12-5 loss to Upper Hill in the semi-final. Taabu said his team learned from last year’s mistakes and remains confident they can repeat their heroics at the nationals.

“We were determined not to lose to them (Upper Hill) twice and the hunger to become the champions was the impetus we needed to claim the win,” Taabu told Sunday Nation Sport on Saturday.

“Upper Hill should realise that we are the kings of rugby in this region and we aim to extend our dominance nationally.”

Laiser recovered from a poor start after falling behind 5-0 to Upper Hill’s Phares Mbadi's fourth minute try as Chris Asira touched down with Taabu converting to give his team a 7-5 lead at the breather.

TAABU RESCUES TEAM

Upper Hill regained the lead early in the second half when Johnstone Olindi outpaced the Laiser Hill defence to add another try which was converted by Omondi Ochieng for a 12-7 lead. With time running out, Taabu rescued his team with a try which he then converted in the dying minutes.

There was still time for one more try from Joel Inzuga as Laiser Hill completed the comeback to claim the victory.

“We played well despite the loss but I think we ran out of gas in the end and our opponents took advantage. We will bounce back in the nationals,” said Upper Hill skipper Phares Mbadi.

Upper Hill had defeated Makueni 34-0 in the semi-finals, while Laiser Hill eliminated Muvuti 17-3 to reach the finals.

The two rugby finalists as well as winners in the other disciplines will represent the region at the National Term Two ‘A’ Games set for Kangaru School, Embu County from June 13 to 18.