Football champs Uasin Gishu off to winning start
Thomas Saibei (left) of Uasin Gishu County Assembly and James Mburu of Kiambu County Assembly vie for the ball during their football match at the County Assemblies Sports Association Games at Eldoret National Polytechnic in Uasin Gishu County on October 2, 2019.. Uasin Gishu County Assembly won 3-0. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |
What you need to know:
- Uasin Gishu and Kilifi began their pool A matches on Wednesday following a controversy over the fielding of ineligible players on Tuesday. However, the jury reinstated them.
County Assemblies Sports Association (CASA) football defending champions Uasin Gishu began their title defence on the right foot when they beat Kilifi 1-0.
The two teams faced off at the Eldoret National Polytechnic Grounds.
Uasin Gishu and Kilifi began their pool A matches on Wednesday following a controversy over the fielding of ineligible players on Tuesday. However, the jury reinstated them.
Elvis Tarus headed in Richard Yego’s corner on the 49th minute for the only goal of the match, beating Kilifi’s custodian Elinus Kalume to seal the victory.
The winners’ captain, Hillary Rono, said they had prepared well for the games despite the earlier dispute they encountered.
Rono said they played well against Kilifi. The jury resolved the players’ issue after deciding that there was no problem because the issue of ineligible players happened during their curtain raiser match.
“Some players were not allowed on the team, however, that was an unofficial match. Today [yesterday] we happy that we played well. Last time we beat Kilifi 3-0, but in this match we managed 1-0. That is a clear indication that they have greatly improved,” said Rono.
NETTED A BRACE
He said that as the defending champions and hosts, they are under pressure.
“Each team thinks that we are a threat. Indeed, we are. In this tournament our target is to defend our title,” added Rono.
Kiambu tops the pool with six points after beating Embu 3-0. Gideon Gachara netted a brace and Francis Ndung’u scored the third goal.
In other results, Embu drew against Samburu after Selesio Gitonga broke the deadlock in the 13th minute for Embu but Haron Lelenguya levelled the scores.
In volleyball, Trans Nzoia men’s team dominated the championships winning all their matches in group F.
In the opener, they beat Nyandarua 2-0 (25-20 and 25-18) before edging out Nyandarua 25-20 and 25-17.
In other volleyball results, Elgeyo Marakwet trounced Bomet 2-0 (25-18 and 25-11) while Kilifi lost to Migori 2-0 (7-25 and 13-25).
In the women’s category, Nairobi won 2-0 (11-25 and 14-25) against Murang’a as Makueni edged out Isiolo 25-12 and 25-14.
Nandi beat Makueni 25-23 and 25-21.
