The Match Day 2 Review

Match day two of the various leagues was played out at different venues across the nation as teams looked to build momentum as the games start coming in thick and fast. Most managed to do just that while others, well lets just say this one had it's fair share of surprise results and a handful of firsts..

We start with the Chairman's League, here are the results I could find:

Chairman's Coast Edition:
Masaku 12-15 Mombasa poly

Chairman's Universities Edition:
Stormers 10-8 Kimathi
Nazarene 7-8 KEMU
Comras 0-27 Catholic Uni

Nation Wide Eastern
Kabarak 26-44 Mombasa
JKUAT 11-12 Kenya Poly
Egerton 24-15 USIU

Nation Wide Western
Webuye 10-38 Moi Uni

Kisii 0-12 Masinde Muliro

In the Coast edition, new comers Masaku fell short of a maiden victory narrowly going down to Mombasa Poly the two were playing their first match of the season.

The universities edition saw the Stormers claim their first win beating the Kimathi Dedans 10-8 in Athi River, Nazarene managed to bounce back from last weekend's loss to Daystar when they edged out KEMU by a single point. Catholic made it two wins in two seeing them take charge of this Edition after seeing of the Comras.

The Nationwide league's East side saw Mombasa wallop Kabarak 44-26, the second time the lads from Kabarak were conceding 40+ points after USIU put 46 past them last time out. USIU however could not match that performance as they went down to Egerton, in the other game Kenya Poly started their season on a high with a narrow 12-11 win over JKUAT who according to reports had a lot of star power in their line up.

In the West side, Moi university got their campaign started with a 38-10 over Webuye with Masinde Muliro beating Kisii 12-0.

The Eric Shirley Shield saw the match between Nondies II and Mwamba II postponed as the ref failed to show up, the rest of the matches took place as scheduled despite some having the same ref problem going on to record some big scores. Defending champions Quins II setting the early pace at the top of the log after beating Blad II 27-0. Strathmore II and Nakuru II matching that pace at 2nd and 3rd respectively after registering 49-0 and 15-0 wins against Homeboyz II and Kisumu II. KCB II kicked off their campaign with an emphatic 41-3 thrashing of Machine II at the UoN grounds..that victory propelling the cubs to 5th on the log. Impala II recording the biggest win of the weekend by steam rolling over Kakamega RFC 53-3, the lads from western finding the going tough early on as they have conceded 119 points in the two games they've played. Here are those results from the ESS:       

Eric Shirley Shield
Impala II 53-3 Kakamega RFC
Strathmore II 49-0 Homeboyz II

Nakuru II 15-0 Kisumu II
Quins II 27-0 BBlad II
KCB II 41-3 Machine II

Nondies II v Mwamba II(Postponed)

The top flight saw defending champions Quins grind out another win against new comers this time a 27-3 win over Blak blad at the Blad bin. This win ensuring the quartered shirts maintain their pole position on the log, the students have a lot of positives to draw from what has been a tough two weeks, how they build on this set of opening fixtures will be highly vital. Currently they lie 11th on the log.

At the lions den, Homeboyz picked themselves up from that loss to Mwamba in style as they came from 15-10 down at the half to beat Strathmore 20-15 and claim their first win of the campaign. This win sees the Djs at 7th , the XXVII crew on 4th, they earneing their second bonus for losing with less than 7 points.  

In what was my pick of the weekend, the Menengai Oil Nakuru travelled to the lake side to face Kisumu RFC. Recent history shows that the Kisumu Poly grounds are not happy hunting grounds for the Wanyore but this time round they battled past a stubborn Kisumu side to eventually beat the Kondele boys 44-29. The score line doesn't do much justice to that game which was at one point finely poised at 23-22 in favour of the Wanyore. That win sees the rift side stay in 2nd place on the log with Kisumu earning a bonus point for making more than 4 tries to see them in 9th.

The other highlight match of the weekend took place at the Jamuhuri park with Nondies taking on Mwamba. Both sides had won their first games and were looking to build on those results. It was Mwamba though that started off strongly, a brace from Dennis the 'ghost worker' Ombachi and a conversion from Kevin Atandi seeing the black shirts take a 12-0 lead before the rangers attempted a comeback through a converted Biko Adema try and a Fielden Sinei penalty but fell short eventually going down 12-10. Mwamba maintain 3rd position with 9 points, Nondies on 5 points after earning a bonus points are on 6th.

Action from the Impala club (photo courtesy of @ImpalaRugby)

The surprise of the weekend came at the Impala grounds, new comers Western bulls taking on the Impala gazelles. The Echulusi has lost to Impala's next door neighbours Quins in their first fixture and though the odds were against them going into this one, they looked better than they did last weekend. Impala had lost out to Nondies and were looking to get things back in order in their second home fixture in a row. The bulls took the early lead through two quick penalties, the score board reading 6-0 at the break. The Echulusi kept the pressure on their hosts upon resumption and stretched their lead to 18-0 via two tries and a conversion, before Impala started inching their way back. At 18-5 Impala's Sidindi saw red this however did not slow down the Impala come back as they got back to within 4 points of the bulls before they were reduced to 13 men when Joel Omer also saw red. At this point there was no way back for the hosts and eventually lost this one 21-14, the bulls claiming their first win at the top flight and what a way to announce your arrival on the big stage. Impala will feel hard done by the cards and left to ponder on what looks like a tough season ahead though it's only two games in. That win sees the Bulls on 4 points in 8th with Impala in unfamiliar territory in 10th.

At the UoN, KCB were getting their campaign started against a Machine side that had lost their first match against Strathmore. The Lions had a few new faces in their ranks most notable former Machine half back Felix Wanjala who would be up against his mates for the first time. It was KCB that got the first points on the board, a few minutes into the game through Bonab Were's boot to make it 3-0, Machine would however reply immediately through Kevin Njugi's penalty. From this point it was all KCB as the lions raced to a 15-3 lead at the break, through Max Adaka and Dennis Mwanja tries.
The second half was one way traffic as Machine found it hard to contain the likes of Mwanja, Kenya sevens Captain Andrew Amonde, Curtis Lilako, Brian Omondi and Moses Amusala. The Lions putting 34 points past the Machine line to end the game 49-3. Max Adaka grabbing a brace, Darwin Mukidza also touching down twice with Edwin Salamba, Anthony Ogot and Benjamin Ojema grabbing a try each.  
That win taking the bankers to 5th on the log, leaving Machine rooted at the bottom of the standings with no points to show after two games.   

Kenya Cup Scores
Blak Blad 3-27 Lunch Bar Quins
Kisumu 29-44 Menengai Oil Nakuru
Total Oil Nondies 10-12 Mwamba
Homeboyz 20-15 Strathmore
Impala 14-21 Western Bulls
Machine 3-49 KCB

From the two match days played this far it looks like its going to be closer than it was last season, especially in mid table, the new comers don't look like the push overs some made them out to be. Blak blad though having lost both their games look like a formidable side, the Bulls have already started claiming big scalps. It's still early days and a lot can change but remember its a one off league there is virtually no time to get back once you slip hence my concern for Impala and Machine..let's see how they fair over the coming weeks.

In the salams corner a happy belated birthday to the Homeboyz coach Paul 'Pau' Murunga, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, I bet the boys gave you the perfect gift.
Finally I was told that I only give belated wishes here hehe, well till I get a girl friend I don't think that will change, as she would be the only one who would genuinely cause ju I didn't send her a birthday message early enough...

Finally here's something that caught my eye last week (not very many things do that)..here see if it does the same for you..

It's a wall hanging from J n J designs, pretty eye catching wouldn't you agree? Kwanza if it's up on one of those walls in your living room. Don't worry if you are not a Nondies guy, this is just a sample you can have your club's logo made too, Check out their Facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/pages/J-n-J-Designs/442104142507447 for more details...

With that ladies and gents...do have a fruitful and fulfilling week ahead....

KWISHA...Nimeruka Nje!!!!