Hat-trick hero Gitau leads resurgent Leos past Homeboyz

Nakuru RFC's Leslie Ochieng (left) is tackled by Mwamba's Joe Otieno during their Kenya Cup match on December 10, 2016 at Impala Club. They drew 10-10. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • It was Leos’ second victory of the season, having beaten Nondescripts 43-10 last weekend.
  • Mitch Ocholla’s charges had suffered four consecutive defeats including the 17-48 season opening loss to Homeboyz.

Have Strathmore Leos finally regained their groove?

That was the question when Mike Gitau landed a hat-trick of tries as the Leos roared from behind to beat Homeboyz 33-32 in their gripping Kenya Cup match at Impala Sports Club on Saturday.

It was Leos’ second victory of the season, having beaten Nondescripts 43-10 last weekend. Mitch Ocholla’s charges had suffered four consecutive defeats including the 17-48 season opening loss to Homeboyz.

The Leos staged a spirited battle, rallying from behind 8-17 and 13-29 to snatch the narrow victory against the deejays. “The boys dug deep for the victory and I am proud of them,” said Ocholla. “It gives us more confidence heading into the next matches.”

However, Ocholla said his biggest worry is his kicking after his players failed to convert all their six tries, and defence after soaking in many points. Homeboyz converted all their four tries besides two penalties.

BONUS POINT

Homeboyz still got two bonus points for their four tries and losing by a margin of not more than seven points.

“We had a lot of lapses in defence to let the Leos roar back into the match,” said Homeboyz coach Paul Murunga. “We need to fix the smaller margins in our return matches against Quins and Impala.”

Strathmore went off the blocks first, Eugene Nzioka drilling a penalty before setting up Ginton Adongo to land they first try of the match. His effort to convert proved a cropper as Homeboyz hit back when Kelvin Masai destroyed Leos defence for a try that saw them lead 10-8.

Alvin Otieno’s try stretched Homeboyz’s lead to 17-8 but Kenya Simbas skipper Brian Nyikuli went over to reduce the deficit for Leos at 13-17. Masai converted Andrew Chogo’s try to see the deejays hold a 24-13 lead at the break.

Mike Wanjala’s try stretched Homeboyz lead to 29-13 but Gitau landed the first of his three tries before John Oduk’s try brought the Leos to within six points of Homeboyz at 23-29.

The Deejays extended their lead 32-28 from Masai’s penalty but Gitau touched down twice for Leos’ crucial victory.

Homeboyz stayed in fifth place with 19 points while Strathmore are eighth with 13 points, one less than Mwamba, who drew 10-10 with visiting Nakuru at the Impala Sports Club.

The only movers were Kabras Sugar, who mauled Mean Machine 43-3 to scale one place to third with 23 points. Impala, whose match against Nondies was postponed, drop one place to fourth with 20 points.

Kenya Harlequin stretched their league’s lead to 29 points after the humbled host Blak Blad at Kenyatta University as Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) stayed second with 27 points after they crushed Western Bulls 41-8 in Ruaraka.

RESULTS

KCB 41-8 Western Bulls; Mwamba 10-10 Nakuru; Blad 20-37 Quins; Strathmore 33-32 Homeboyz; Kabras Sugar 43-3 Machine