Strathmore University ‘Blades’ coach Tony Ochieng has re-hired two key players from Thunder as he seeks to win this year’s Premier League title.
Ochieng said Pascal Nabwana and Emmanuel Soja, who guided the varsity side to the runners-up spot in 2017 league race, are returning to the team with an aim of strengthening the outfit.
“They are coming back to the team to occupy the two positions that were our undoing last year. With them in the team, I can assure you we are going for the top prize,” Ochieng said.
Last year, Nabwana and Soja played a key role in Thunder’s runners-up position during the play-off finals, which they lost 3-1 to eventual champions Ulinzi Warriors in the best of five game series. “Their return makes me a contender. These are players I know very well and they are coming back to the team they played for for years as students. Their contribution will be huge boost for us,” he observed.
Ochieng said the duo will strengthen the three-man and the four-man positions that was lacking in last year’s title run. Strathmore University finished fourth last year.
“My title run last year was hampered by the fact that I did not have key players in the two positions. This was the main reason I did not go for the title. Now I am sound in all positions,”he explained.
He went on: “We identified our weak areas which needed improvements after last year’s run and that is why we have decided to fill the two positions.”
The team, he said, will also welcome back towering centre Brian Onyango after a successful surgery. He suffered an ankle injury in 2018 as the team prepared for the Fiba Africa Zone Five Club championship in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.
“Brian is back after being out for 20 months. His presence in that position will be key to our title quest. I now have all positions filled by performers and will blend the youth with experience to be a real force,” he noted. He also named three new recruits—Tony Were, Dennis Koja and Nicholas Garang— all joined in from Nyanza schools’ giant, Maseno High. Ochieng is convinced his boys will come back to action a much stronger side when this year’s programme gets underway. The tactician said the fact that they didn’t lose any player last year makes them stronger.
