Busia County girls’ team have sealed a slot in the finals of the 2023 Talanta Hela Under-19 national football tournament after walloping Homabay 5-0 at Nyayo stadium on Sunday.
The coach Edwin Sakwa-tutored squad demonstrated pure class to outsmart their opponents in the entertaining semifinals, where both teams put up a gallant fight just before things fell apart for Homabay in the later stages of the game.
Fleet-footed midfielder Diana Anyango was the toast for Busia, netting a hat-trick in the 48th, 66th, and 77th minutes to contribute to the avalanche of goals that tore Homabay into tiny shreds.
Christine Andati and Lorna Faith then buried their efforts in the 32nd and 63rd minutes to send Homabay packing for good from the inaugural national tournament that has elicited excitement across the nation.
Speaking moments after the centre referee blew the full-time whistle, Coach Sakwa chastised Homabay for giving them a raw deal in the clash, adding they had expected a tougher encounter.
“We didn’t have an opponent in this match which turned out to be a training session for us. We expected a tougher match than what we got and we just don’t know what became of our opponents,” Sakwa remarked.
Sakwa vowed to unleash his most potent weaponry to devour their opponents in the finals set for Jamhuri Day, adding that they have sharpened their talons adequately to run away with the silverware.
“Our next goal now is to clinch the trophy, nothing else. We are ready to face anyone who will qualify to meet us in the finals,” Sakwa stated.
“We practice a lot, we do a lot of conditioning, a lot of ball work and we are also very strong mentally,” he added.
As Sakwa celebrated his triumph, his opposite number Maurice Omoya rued a bad day in office, further attributing their torrid outing to a long list of injuries that had plagued his squad.
“Today’s match did not yield the results we had hoped for but that’s mainly due to injury that beset our team in the initial minutes of the game. Previous injuries also forced to effect some abrupt changes to the squad,” Omoya remarked.
“There are a couple of players like Joy Marvelous who also fell ill and are currently being treated for Malaria,” he added.
Omoya said they would rummage through the county for a larger pool of talent ahead of the next edition of the competition.
“It’s usually difficult to get the right replacements, especially in a girl’s team because few of them play football. We are going back to the drawing board to rectify the loopholes that cost us today’s game before our third-place playoffs tomorrow,” Omoya stated.
