Soccer: U-19 winners sail to semis at national Term Two Games in Kisumu
By Gibo Zachary, August 1, 2019
Dagoretti High, Itigo Girls have qualified for the soccer U19 boys and girls’ semi-finals after winning their second preliminary matches of the Kenya Secondary School Sports Associations (KSSSA) Term Two Ball Games going on in Kisumu.
St Anthony Boy’s Kitale as well as last year’s losing finalist Olbolsat have joined the two sides as the other teams to have already secured their last four tickets as the competitions entered Day Two yesterday, Wednesday.
Building on their Day One 2-0 win over Mbooni, Dagoretti under the tutelage of coach Peter Orero drubbed hosts Kisumu Day 2-0 in yesterday’s match a Moi Stadium Kisumu, a results that received mixed reactions from the host region.
The loss was largely welcomed by anti-Kisumu supporters who blamed the school for using the backdoor and appeal panels to qualify to nationals in expense of Barding Boys and Gesero Boys, labelling the school with ‘Appeals’ FC sent backing, ‘Mahakama’ lose.
A penalty scored by Zablon Butela and a second goal from Mohammed Abdi handed Dagoretti six points in Pool B and that were enough to see them qualify with a match to spare in the group stage against Ebwali today.
“We are aiming for the national title and the two opening wins is a clear indication. We are taking each match as a final now,” said Orero. Ebwali on the other hand after stunning Kisumu in the opener, were yesterday forced to wait today’s match against already qualified Dagoretti to know their fate after being frustrated to a 1-1 draw by much improved Mbooni Boys.
Ebwali are second in Pool B with four points and eyes a draw in against Orero’s Dagoretti side to qualify or hope that Kisumu do them justice by beating Mbooni to qualify. Mbooni are third with one point while Kisumu have been eliminated after losing their opening two matches.
In the U19 girls’ category, Itigo Girls stunned hosts Nyakach Girls 1-0 to book their place in the semi-finals. Itigo beat Dagoretti Mixed in similar fashion on Day One. Nyakach who started their Pool A campaign in cloud eight by outplaying Karugwa 8-1 on Tuesday, were hard done by Itigo yesterday and must beat Dagoretti Mixed to qualify.