Harambee Starlets midfielder hits brace in Sweden

Harambee Starlets midfielder Mary Kinuthia bagged a brace and an assist as IF Dalhem emerged 5-1 winners over Balinge in the Swedish Norra Svealand on Saturday.

"It feels good to be back with the team. I had seriously missed this experience.  We haven't lost our rhythm and our communication on the field is still effective and intact which has helped as a lot even after not playing for a while. 

Although we won, our opponents didn't give us an easy time and they had a lot of confidence and were able to identify open opportunities throughout the match which made us work twice as hard. We aim to maintain the same pace in all our matches," said Kinuthia, during a phone interview from Sweden.

The Wiyeta Girls Secondary School alumnus scored her first goal in the 14th minute and later provided her teammate Thea Gillerfors with an assist for the second goal in the 25th minute. Her teammate, Bella Nilsson added their third goal in the 40th minute for a healthy 3-0 lead at the break.

Eight minutes into the second half, Dalhem IF bagged their fourth goal through Hilda Nygren and Kinuthia wrapped up the goals scoring her second and team's fifth in the 60th minute.

New acquisition Elizabath Katungwa did not feature as she is still waiting for an International Transfer Certificate (ITC) clearance. 

Kinuthia, who has been playing for Dalhem IF since 2017, says she is still in negotiations with the Swedish team for a new contract.

"I came on special terms because I have a good rapport with the team, but I'm hoping that I can get a contract soon so that I can have a clear vision of my stay here," she told Nation Sport.