Kenya Police captain Victor Wekesa has attributed their 2-1 win against Strathmore Gladiators in the men’s Premier League hockey match at the City Park Stadium to teamwork and resilience.
Police, who beat Parkroad Badgers 4-2 on Saturday at the same venue, opened the scoring via Derrick Jabali barely two minutes into the match.
Oliver Echenje doubled the lead after blazing past the Gladiators' defense to deliver a precise lob over the oncoming Noah Barasa. Keith Alusa’s scored a consolation for Strathmore in the 25th minute.
“We deserved to win the match. We utilized the few chances we created and it’s nice to top the standings for the first time this season. We want to maintain our standards as a team,” a relieved Wekesa said.
“Our focus is to beat Sailors in the next fortnight to end the first leg on a high note.”
The victory sent Police to the top with 19 points from eight matches while second-placed Butali who have played a game less, have 17.
His counterpart Kimson Webi said inexperience was costly for Gladiators after several chances went begging. This was Strathmore’s second loss in five days after falling to Sailors 3-2 on Wednesday.
“We panicked in the first quarter and conceded two easy goals. Alusa brought us back into the game but our profligacy in front of the goal wasted us. We need to adjust our slow start to matches. It was the same story against Sailors and we need to change our approach."
Elsewhere, defending champions Butali Warriors returned to winning ways with a 3-1 thumping of Mombasa Sports Club at the Coast. George Mutira finally broke his goal drought to give Butali a sixth-minute lead. Victor Mwendwa drew MSC level in the 28th minute but Shamah Ademba and Constant Wakhura sealed the win for Butali.
Kisumu Youngstars came from behind to scalp Technical University of Kenya 2-1 in the men’s Super League. In the women’s category, high-flying Kenyatta University hammered JKUAT 3-0 via Monica Kitui’s brace and Miriam Mwangi’s well-taken field goal.
