NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 12 – Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) rugby team assistant coach Dennis Mwanja says they needed to ‘balance their accounts’ against their Kenya Cup title rivals Menengai Oilers after their 62-15 thrashing of the Nakuru-based side in their top league encounter on Saturday.
The bankers had a score to settle with the Oilers following the latter’s shock 24-17 win in last year’s semis of the Kenya Cup playoffs from where they went on to lose to Kabras Sugar in the final.
Mwanja said KCB were happy to do their talking on the pitch and get the final say.
“This match against Oilers was particularly an interesting assignment for us because we needed to balance the accounts with them after what happened last season. There is a lot of talk outside the field but the game is played inside the field. For us, it is a big win… a huge shot in the arm and it gives us a lot of motivation moving forward,” he said.
The bankers exerted dominance from the first whistle with Darwin Mukidza and Samuel Asati the main characters in the show, the latter scoring a brace to leave KCB leading Menengai 24-3 going into the break.
They continued their revenge mission in the second half as Mukidza extended the scores to 31-3.
The bankers were threatening to make it a whitewash as Festus Shiasi scored a brace to make it 36-3 before Esau Otieno added another try to make it 43-3.
A Geoffrey Ominde try to reduce the scores to 43-10 proved to be just a drop in the ocean as Peter Waitere pounced on a loose ball to make it 55-10 in favour of the guests.
Despite a last minute try by the hosts to make it 55-15, a converted corner post try by the bankers confirmed what would be a terrible day in the office at the Refinery – the Oilers’ second straight loss after their defeat by Strathmore Leos last weekend.
Commenting on the huge disparity in the scoreline, Mwanja admitted that his charges had to approach the tie with the seriousness it deserved considering the calibre of the opponents.
“We came here knowing our work was cut out. So, we were approaching them cautiously but we also knew what we had. We gave our all and held up, staying on top of the game,” Mwanja, also the head coach of Kenya Lionesses, said.
Echoing his sentiments was flanker James Ochieng who revealed that revenge was the key thing on their mind on the way to Nakuru Showground.
“The game was easy…remember, it was a revenge game. We had lost last year to Oilers so we needed to prove a point. We actually proved a big point here today that we are coming for the title and we actually need it,” Ochieng said.
The bankers next tie is a top-of-the table clash against defending champions Kabras Sugar at the Den, a long Thika Superhighway.
Ochieng added that they will head back to training to brush up on their mistakes ahead of this do-or-die duel with the millers.
“We’ll just have to focus on training on Tuesday…make sure our basics are perfect. The mistakes that were done today…we weren’t actually very perfect. We are going to work on them the whole week before the big game on Saturday and we are going to make sure every thing is really good,” he said.
Similarly, Mwanja exuded confidence that his charges are ready for the task ahead and are chomping at the chance to snatch the title away from the champions.
“Yeah, we have reached the business end of the season. We have tested the combinations…we have our systems running and we have settled on the squad, which will take us forward. We are very excited for this phase of the season as we prepare for the big game this coming weekend,” he said.
