Rampant Police gun down Butali at the park

Kenya Police's Robert Masibo (right) vies for the ball with Butali Sugar Warriors' George Mutira (left) during their Kenya Hockey Union men's Premier League match at the City Park Stadium on June 17, 2018. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • Kanu was at it again, hauling another crispy pass from the right to find Barkibir in place for their third goal five minutes later, before putting up a formidable defence marshalled by Richard Birir to win the match.
  • The victory saw Police dislodge Butali from the top of the 12-team league standing with 24 points from eight wins and one loss, as Butali dropped one place to second with 21 points from seven wins and one loss even though they have a match in hand.
  • “It’s such a good feeling to score against such a quality side,” said Barkibir, a former Western Jaguars and St Anthony's Secondary School, Kitale, player.

Amos Barkibir scored a brace as champions Kenya Police crushed Butali Sugar Warriors 3-0 in a pulsating men’s hockey Premier League match at City Park Stadium on Sunday.

It was Butali's first loss of the season after seven straight wins After a scoreless battle in the first two quarters, Brian Saina latched on the loose ball rom the goal mouth melee before setting up Barkibir to open the scores in the 36th minute.

Calvins Kanu would float the ball into the danger zone from the right to get the evergreen Moses Cheplaiti, who wasted no time to beat Linus Sang in Butali’s goal in the 52nd minute.

Kanu was at it again, hauling another crispy pass from the right to find Barkibir in place for their third goal five minutes later, before putting up a formidable defence marshalled by Richard Birir to win the match.

The victory saw Police dislodge Butali from the top of the 12-team league standing with 24 points from eight wins and one loss, as Butali dropped one place to second with 21 points from seven wins and one loss even though they have a match in hand.

“It’s such a good feeling to score against such a quality side,” said Barkibir, a former Western Jaguars and St Anthony's Secondary School, Kitale, player.

“I was fit and composed, looking forward for a great show.”

However, Barkibir cautioned his teammates that the battle had just started.

“We are not there yet since this is just the first leg. I hope we uphold the great teamwork experienced today,” said the 21-year-old Barkibir.

Police deputy team manager Ezra Onyango noted that his team was well prepared and psyched for Butali.

“Some good team work and perfect passing did the trick, and kudos to Barkibir for his sharpness upfront,” said Onyango.

“We dominated in the first two quarters but wasted a short corner.”

However, the biggest movers of weekend in the men’s Premier league were Kenya College of Accountancy University (KCA-U). The students stunned former champions Strathmore University 2-0 on Saturday, before being forced to a 1-1 draw by visiting Nakuru on Sunday.

The results that saw KCA-U get four points hauling them from 10th place to fifth with eight points.

In the women’s Premier league, Telkom squeezed a 2-0 victory over Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) at City Park on Saturday with goals from Ann Juma (2nd) and Hellen Chemutai (39th) making the difference.

The victory enabled Telkom stay at the top of the league with an improved tally of 15 points from a clean run in five outings.

United States International University (USIU) beat Vikings 2-0 on Saturday, before drawing with JKUAT 0-0, results that saw USIU scale to third place with sevens points.