EA Games: Kisii School, St. Joseph’s Kitale lift rugby and hockey titles

Matrick Matangi opened the scoring for Kisii in the third minute to give them a 3-0 lead, after converting a penalty following a defensive mistake from All Saints.

All Saints' penalty kicker Josphat Karanja replied in a similar fashion two minutes later to level the scores.

Both teams defended well, conceding few chances until the 18th minute when All Saints made an error, leading to another penalty for Kisii which Matangi converted to help Nyanza regional giants regain their lead.

Seven minutes later, Karanja converted yet another penalty for All Saints to level at 06-06 with both teams trading for penalties at halftime.

Second half produced a different show as Isaac Mageto scored an important try which proved to be the match winner.

The victory marked Kisii’s first-ever East Africa’s rugby 15s title, capping off a remarkable rise under newly World Rugby Level 1 accredited coach, Lee Arstone.

It was a sweet revenge for Kisii after being beaten 13-10 by All Saints in the preliminary matches.

Assistant coach Nobert Bonyi was awed by his boys’ resilience and determination which won them the game.

“The game has been tough but I’m glad we won. We came to this match expecting a tough encounter and it actually was. We won the game through set-pieces and our defence was solid,” said Bonyi.

His counterpart Benson Mwenda praised his boys despite the loss.

“My boys gave their best, our tactics just didn’t work today but overall they have improved. We are going back to the drawing board and we will come back better.”

In hockey girls’, St. Joseph’s Girls Kitale thrashed former champions Kakungulu of Uganda 6-0 to bag three important points, helping them retain their hockey title.

The defending champions were tipped title favourites on Wednesday after making light work of national champions Tigoi, beating them 3-2, to open a three-point gap at the top and needed just a point to finish off the job.

They amassed 19 points after seven matches in the competition played in round-robin format.

St. Joseph, popularly known as JOGA, continued to show their mettle regionally despite failing to dominate nationally in the last two years they’ve lifted the East African crown.

Head coach Linah Barasa couldn’t hold back her joy after the match.

“I’m happy that we won this title, we showed a lot of determination and in the end it paid off. We now hope we can win the national title that has been slipping through our hands next year.”

Reigning national champions Tigoi Girls had to settle for a second place with 16 points after crushing

The boys crown went to Uganda with Kakungulu reclaiming it after losing it to Musingu last year.

Kakungulu stunned St. Charles Lwanga 3-0 in the early kick off of the day.