Kenya Prisons win Governor Joho netball crown
Florence Ndombi (right) of Ulinzi Swords challenges Brenda Fassie (left) of Kaya Tiwi during their National League match at Technical University of Mombasa on April 27, 2019. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT |
What you need to know:
- Kaya Tiwi, who were using the tournament to prepare for the inter-schools championship this term, had lost 11-43 to Ulinzi, 15-29 to Western Stima and 26-11 to Kenya Prisons.
- Kenya Netball Federation Umpires and Fixtures Secretary, Joseph Makau, while thanking the teams for the high standards witnessed, said action now moves to Homabay, where the first leg of the national league will kick off.
Kenya Prisons shocked champions Ulinzi beating them 35-33 to lift the netball Super League category of the Governor Joho trophy as Kaya Tiwi Secondary scooped the Division one title in the tournament which concluded at the Technical University of Mombasa on Sunday.
The loss was particularly bitter for Ulinzi coach Rebecca Serange, who has won literally everything with Ulinzi at the local scene since she took over as coach three years ago, a period in which the club has also won back-to-back titles.
“It was definitely a painful loss which I can partly blame on poor officiating and injury to my key scorer Caroline Makhoha, who had to be stretchered out with a knee injury in the third quarter," Serange, a former international netball and basketball player, said.
She admitted that a fix on her midfield through recruitment is required after the department was overwhelmed by the younger and swift Prisons players.
Internationals Lilian Mboga, Florence Ndonbi and Linda Okingo, who formed what was arguably the tournament’s best defence, failed to contain the tall and huge Salma Akinyi and swift Nancy Auro ,who impressed throughout this encounter, which was watched by a sizeable crowd.
In this matches played on round-robin basis, and which had four teams in the senior category, Ulinzi had beaten Western Stima 39-20 and St Johns 37-11 to crown a successful weekend as Prisons, who beat Stima 35-28 and St Johns Nairobi 27-14, finished second while Stima were a distant third with a 30-17 win over St Johns.
Kaya Tiwi, the reigning national secondary schools netball champions, had an easy time beating Freretown 13-2 and St Charles lwanga 38 -17 to win the Division one category title, while St Charles were second.
Kaya Tiwi, who were using the tournament to prepare for the inter-schools championship this term, had lost 11-43 to Ulinzi, 15-29 to Western Stima and 26-11 to Kenya Prisons.
Kenya Netball Federation Umpires and Fixtures Secretary, Joseph Makau, while thanking the teams for the high standards witnessed, said action now moves to Homabay, where the first leg of the national league will kick off.
