Western region soccer champions, Shanderema Boys’ High School, kicked off the National Championship games on a high note. They defeated the Northeastern champions Khorof Harar eight goals to nil at a match played in Kakamega’s Bukhungu Stadium.
Striker Maxwell Wamalwa inspired Shanderema boys’ with his hat-trick, while Nixon Mutimi scored a brace in front of the over ten thousand fans who turned up to cheer them up in the stadium.
Kelly Madada opened the scoring in the early minutes of the first half, while other goals were scored by Elvis Omondi and substitute Collins Kati in the second half.
The Northeastern side found themselves on the receiving end, when their opponents were awarded two penalties in each half, which were successfully converted by Shanderema starman, Wamalwa.
The Eagles of Shanderema controlled the midfield, as Dismas Barasa popular known as ‘Pogba’ ensured that the opponents were kept at bay.
Shanderema would have made it nine but the center referee Kevin Amol blew the whistle to deny Ian Wamalwa his goal on grounds that he was offside.
The Western region champions continued with the onslaught in the second half. While the Northeastern side through Mohammed Jimale, managed a chance on target as his hard-won battle outside the box earned him a shot that went wide.
Shanderema coach Kevin Asiba praised his youthful side despite noting a few mistakes. “Football is a game of chances sometimes you score sometimes you won’t but we are grateful for the eight goals and three points’’, said Asiba.
The coach also said that his squad had been previously hit by injuries causing them to miss today’s match. “Mark Shaban is on the bench due to injury, but we will observe him as he recovers’’, noted the coach.
On the other side, the Northeastern team coach Adan Noor, admitted the mistakes from the goalkeeping department to the striking force. “Our goalkeeper had a problem, our strikers were not aggressive while we had a small problem in the midfield but we are going to work on the problems for us to improve in our next matches’’, castigated Noor.
Shanderema sits at the summit of group A with three points and eight goals, while the Nyanza champions Agoro Sare are in second position with three points after defeating third-placed Central’s region champions Karingari by two goals to one. The northeastern champions Khorof Harar are sitting in the fourth position.
In a group B encounter, Kitale’s St. Anthony ran riot over Eastern champions Matiliku by hammering them eight goals to nil while Nairobi’s representatives Dagorreti beat Coast’s champions Serani boys by a solitary goal.
Shanderema will meet Agoro Sare on 9 Wednesday, 2023 in what is expected to be another mouth-watering encounter at Bukhungu Stadium. The winner between the teams will top up the group A.
In Volleyball, the results were as follows;
Girls
Mwitoti 3 – 0 Nyakach (25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
Kwanthanze 3- 0 Vyambani (25-7, 25-15, 25-10)
Soweto 3 – 0 Senior Chief (25-6, 25-8, 25-9)
Kesogon 3 – 0 Karima (25-14, 25-4, 25-6)
Boys
Namwela 3 – 1 Tumaini (25-21, 24-26, 25-21, 25-17)
Andersen 3 – 0 Onjiko (29-27, 25-22, 25-16)
Vitengeni 3 – 0 Furaha (25-8, 25-18, 25-8)
Tetu 2 – 3 Ruthumitu (25-21, 25-23, 19-25, 19-25, 15-17)
By Fredrick Akali
