St Anthony's pip Shimba Hills in School Games thriller

Kenya Under-20 midfielder Daniel Musamali's brilliantly taken free-kick on 62 minutes is all St Anthony's Kitale needed to beat Shimba Hills Secondary from Coast 1-0 in their opening Group A boys' Under-19 football match as the Secondary Schools Term 2 National Games got underway in Kisumu on Tuesday.

This happened as home team Nyakach Girls ran riot, walloping Karugwa from Central 8-1 in the girls Under 19 Group A match at Kisumu Boys High School.

The other boys Group A match saw Olbolsot Secondary from Central come from behind to thrash Banisa Secondary (North Eastern) 6-1 while former champions Itigo (Rift Valley) beat Dagorreti Mixed Secondary 1-0 in the other girls Group A encounter.

The St Anthony's versus Shimba Hills match, watched by a capacity crowd at at the Moi Stadium in Kisumu, saw the Coast-based school enjoy the lion's share of possession in the early exchanges of the game but it was St Anthony who had the last laugh with a well executed free-kick from outside the box that made the difference.

St Anthony's, who had some of the players who beat Nigeria to win the Copa Coca Cola trophy last year in their squad, upped the tempo in the second half and kept pushing their opponents but missed a host of chances before scoring from the free-kick.

"We dictated the pace especially in the second half but failed to convert most of our chances and almost paid the price for it," St Anthony coach Peter Mayoyo said.

His Shimba Hills counterpart Daniel Mulei blamed lady luck for the narrow loss.

"I think we gave it our all and could have wrapped things up in the opening minutes of the match but my boys were wasteful," Mulei said after the match.

In the girls match pitting Nyakach against Karugwa, Khasila prudence opened the scoring in the second minute before Stacy Nawarenga added two quick goals in the fourth and 21st minutes.

Other scorers for Nyakach were Mercy Akoth (26), Ivy Chepkurui (36), Jackline Adongo (37 and 48 minutes) and Mary Atieno (90).

Susan Atieno scored the lone goal for Karugwa in the 34 minute.

"We came to the national games knowing that each team is strong, from the start I made my players know that nothing should be taken lightly and that is why we played exceptionally well," Nyakach coach Chrispine Odindo said.

The girls' Under 16 matches at the Kisumu Polytechnic grounds saw Njambini Secondary beat Ugari 3-0 with goals from Everlyne Anyango who scored a brace while Grace Njambi netted the other.

Wiyeta beat Dagorreti Mixed 3-0 with Jamila Anita scoring twice and Edna Nando netting the other.