GLASPO FC HUMBLED AS THIKA QUEENS CROWNED CHAMPIONS IN THIS YEAR'S JAMHURI PEACE CUP TOURNAMENT

Glaspo's captain Wendy Achieng(right) dribbles the ball away from her opponent Everlyn  Adhiambo during 2014 Jamhuri Peace Cup Tournament finals held Mombasa county stadium.

Thika Queens were on Friday afternoon crowned the champions of the National Jamhuri Peace Tournament at the Mombasa County Stadium after edging out Glaspo FC through a post match penalty kicks.

The mouth watering encounter ended on a barren draw in the normal regulation time. During the penalty kicks, Queens saw the back of the net four times while their opponent Glaspo shook the net only thrice.

The champs were awarded Ksh 10,000, trophy, set of jersey and medals while the runners up got Ksh 5,000, trophy, set of jersey and medals.

The final was graced by National Executive Committee Member Madam Angelim Mwikali from North Eastern. According to her the tournament will be used to scout players who will represent the ladies national team (Harambee Starlets) in the confederation games,
“We have two coaches who will select players to join the national team that is set to participate in the African qualifiers matches come next year,” she said shortly before the kickoff.

On the men’s final Coast Stima emerged victors after beating FC Shells from Likoni 2-1.  Stima’s goals were scored by Rogers Okumu and Kevin Olale in the 35^th and 74^th minutes respectively. Shells got their consolation through Lenox Mwaro in the 73^rd minutes.

The winners and the runners up in the men’s category  got the same prizes as the ladies. 

National Jamhuri Peace Tournament is a one week tournament that is held annually during the week of Jamhuri holiday and it incorporates both the lower and upper division teams.

FC SHELLS, COAST STIMA THROUGH TO NATIONAL JAMHURI PEACE TOURNAMENT FINAL

(FC Shell's captain Demba (right) battles for the ball with Tiki Taveta's player Peter Ochieng during the first semi final encounter at Tudor Day  Secondary School on Thursday afternoon)

 

FC Shells beat Tiki Taveta 2- 1 on Thursday afternoon at Tudor Day Secondary School to secure their place in the National Jamhuri Peace Tournament final.

Shells were the first to score through their midfielder Hamza Hammed in the 32^nd minutes. However, after the stroke of half time, Tiki Taveta got an equalizer courtesy of their striker Jagero Robert.

The game looked settled with both teams trying to capitalize their opponent’s mistakes. At the 81^st minute the deadlock was broken when Shell’s defender Russel Adebayor converted a penalty kick to put his side ahead.

Tiki Taveta’s coach Okumu criticized the referee’s performance and termed it as unprofessional “this is very unprofessional, the officials officiated the match poorly and this is one of the reasons Coast referees cannot get a call up to officiate Premier League games,” he said.

Contrary to coach Okumu’s remarks, Shell’s coach Musa hailed praise on the referee’s performance, “the referee was very fair and strictly followed the FIFA rules to the letter,” he noted.

On the second encounter Coast Stima out-shined Shimo Annex FC to book a slot in the final. James Okello scored the all important goal in the 81^st minutes.

On the ladies category, Thika Queens and Gaspo FC beat Moving The Goal Post FC from Malindi and Soccer Queens respectively to advance to the finals.

The finals will be played on 12^th December at the Mombasa County Stadium.

KAYOLE YOUTH PROMISES TO BOUNCE BACK

(Kayole Youth players at their home ground in Kayole)

Eastland based side Kayole Youth FC has promised to bounce back strongly come 2015 season after they failed to secure a slot in the Nationwide Division One League.

The side took part in the Nairobi Provincial League finishing third, four points behind league leaders ASEC Huruma F.C and one point behind second placed Forest FC.

 As a result they failed to advance to play off that was slotted to have only top two teams from each group.

Youth recorded an impressive performance in their home matches losing only once to Real Mathare FC and winning the rest.

However, their efforts were neutralised when it came to the away fixture where they lost four matches, drew two and won six.

On the other hand the club’s tactician Barry Otieno is very optimistic that his players will rise to the occasion come 2015 season ‘’my players are in good condition and are ready to roll. Am convinced they will perform better come next season,’’ he said.

Beside this the tactician expressed his uncertainty concerning the clubs financial status, ‘’our biggest challenge is finance; we don’t know where will get the next sponsor who will support us in the forth coming season. Last season we survived through the help of our well wishers,’’ he added.

In an effort to intensify their momentum, the club has decided to participate in three tournaments; Far Eastlando in Dandora, Ekodida in Mathare and Ex-convict in Korogocho slums.

They will also travel to Mombasa this weekend to play build up matches against both Super leaguse and Nationwide sides.