Tanzania hit Kenya in U17 Cecafa tie

Tanzania players celebrate a goal during their Cecafa Under-17 Women Challenge Cup match against Kenya on December 13, 2019 at Njeru Technical Centre, Uganda. PHOTO | FUFA |

What you need to know:

  • Kenya started the tournament with a 14-0 rout of Djibouti before settling for a 1-1 draw with Eritrea in their second match.
  • Kenya's next match is scheduled for Sunday against Burundi.

Kenya suffered a major blow in their quest of winning the inaugural Cecafa Under 17 Women Challenge Cup after falling 3-1 to Tanzania in their third match of the tournament at the Njeru Technical Centre in Jinja on Friday.

Thebea Aidano Munga, Joyce Meshak and Aisha Hamis Masaka struck in the 20th minute, 54th minute and 70th minutes respectively to give Tanzania the win while Fassila Adhiambo struck Kenya's consolation on 55 minutes.

"My players struggled today because we didn't have enough time to train but we take this as a motivation to finish strongly," said Junior Starlets coach Jackeline Juma.

"I'm glad they stuck to the game plan which was maintaining a strong defence even though it was challenged by Tanzania who are a good side as well. We will use the lessons learnt in the next match."

The opening minutes of the encounter were uneventful with Kenya's midfielders struggling with poor passes and ball distribution. Munga opened the scoring with a well taken shot a few inches from outside the box after evading a few challenges from Kenya's defence.

Kenya had the opportunity to level matters from a free-kick on 25 minutes, but the effort was superbly saved by Tanzania's goalkeeper. Three minutes later, Tanzania could have been 2-0 up, but lost a penalty, before they had another effort from the spot saved by the Kenya's custodian Mellany Achieng.

Nine minutes after the restart, Meshak doubled Tanzania's lead, this time her kick was successful from 12 yards.

Adhiambo pulled one back for Kenya a minute later, to set up a potentially nervy end to the encounter but Aisha Hamis Masaka put the score beyond doubt for Tanzania with 20 minutes to the final whistle.

Tanzania moved to the summit of the standings on seven points after their 5-0 win over Eritrea and 3-3 draw with Burundi earlier in the tournament although hosts Uganda could reclaim the top spot with victory over Eritrea in the late kick off on Friday. Uganda have six points from their 11-0 and 4-0 victories over Djibouti and Burundi respectively.

Kenya started the tournament with a 14-0 rout of Djibouti before settling for a 1-1 draw with Eritrea in their second match.

The tournament, being played in a round-robin tournament, is the first of its kind to be hosted by the regional body and has attracted six teams.

Kenya's next match is scheduled for Sunday against Burundi.