Impala Saracens coach Frank Ndong rued the lack of discipline during their 22-20 loss to Nondies on Saturday at the Rfuea grounds. The loss, their second in succession after a 41-10 demolition by Kabras, leaves the Ngong Road outfit at fifth on the standings 12 points behind the leaders Kabras.
“We gave away too many penalties and our game management was very poor, even when we led. It’s something we have to work on in the coming weeks,” said Ndong. Nondies tactician, Willis Ojal was satisfied with his side’s performance.
“I am happy to have bagged the first win of the new year. The boys showed character and resilience to win,” he said.
Following a slow start that saw them trail to two penalties by Fidel Sinei, Impala settled down and Steve Shammah barged over the line from close range for an
Impala trio of Sammy Oliech, Samson Onsomu and Mark Kwemoi began to punch holes in the visitors’ defence and Shammah scored his second with Quinto Ongo adding the conversion for a 12-6 lead in favour of the Sarries.
Sinei closed out the half for Nondies with a penalty for a 12-9 score at the break. On resumption, Nondies came out firing on all cylinders and were rewarded when Eric Okoma crossed the whitewash with Sinei converting for a 16-12 lead. Impala failed to fire in the second half and were made to pay when Sinei added a penalty following an infringement by the hosts’ forwards. The game burst into life in the final ten minutes with Ongo slotting a penalty to reduce the deficit to four points. Minutes later, fullback Richard Sidindi, powered his way past the line for an unconverted try and a 20-19 lead. Sinei, however, had the last laugh, kicking over a penalty to close out a memorable win for Nondies.
Quins moved up to third on 21 points following a bonus point 36-21 victory over Nakuru at the same ground. Aluda Beda scored a brace with Eden Agero and Scott Oluoch scoring one try each. The referee also awarded Quins a penalty try following a scrum infringement by the visitors. Edwin Makori, Phillip Keane and Duncan Abuyeka were on the scoresheet for the losers. Kabras stayed five points clear of champions KCB following a comprehensive 41-5 victory over Menengai Oilers in Kakamega. KCB thrashed Mean Machine 50-3 as Mwamba edged Strathmore Leo’s 47-25. Homeboyz edged Blak Blad 35-23.