Ulinzi Starlets surprised many after beating pre-match favourite Vihiga Queens 2-1 on Saturday at the Nakuru ASK Showground to win the inaugural 2021 Football Kenya Federation Women’s Cup title.

Vihiga came into the match fresh from winning Cecafa Women’s Club Champions League, fielding the same team that won the regional title save for Violet Wanyonyi and  Ugandan international Joan Nabirye, however, their arsenal was caged by Ulinzi’s rearguard who had the last say in the match.

Ulinzi Starlets started strongly and took an early lead through Lucy Mukhwana who opened the scoring only seven minutes into the game.

After the goal, the teams lumbered on as the Starlets sought to extend their lead while Vihiga fought hard to equalise and came close thrice in the final 10 minutes of halftime, but Ulinzi’s defense was well alert, thwarting all their efforts.

After the break, coach Boniface Nyamunyamu made two quick changes, pulling out Alice Muderi, and bringing in Phelistus Kadari and Topistar Nafula and the changes seemed to spark Vihiga back to life as they went on an all out attack and their troubles saw Topistar score an equaliser in the 63rd minute to level matters 1-1.

Ten minutes later, Christine Wekesa restored Ulinzi Starlets’ lead from a long range thunderbolt strike, a goal that Starlets held on tightly till the end of the final whistle to emerge the first-ever FKF Women’s Cup champions.

Enroute to the finals, champions Ulinzi Starlets saw off MTG Ladies 4-0 in the round of 32, Sunderland Samba 5-0 in the round of 16, Zetech Sparks 3-2 in the quarterfinals, and Kisumu All Starlets 4-2 in the semifinals.

Vihiga Queens, on the other hand, made it to the finals without conceding any goal.