Kabras Sugar defeated KCB RFC to retain their Kenya Cup title during the final match played at the Kakamega ASK Showground in Kakamega county on Saturday evening.
The unbeaten Kabras were 16-09 winners against the bankers in an intense final for the 4th title in the top-flight rugby 15s league.
The Carlos Kaywa-coached side managed to step ahead through Jone Kubu’s penalty in the opening five minutes after Ntaben Dukisa failed to shoot between the posts to hand the champions a 3-0 lead. After missing another penalty in the second attempt, the Fijian international shot the third past the posts for a 6-0 lead for sugar millers in a well-attended final match.
Darwin Mukidza missed a golden chance to hand KCB the lead with his opening tries but the oval ball rolled over Kubu for 6-0 into the break.
On resumption, Mukidza converted from the penalty for KCB to half the score at 6-3 then Dukisa added another penalty score for Kabras for a 9-3 lead but the celebration was short-lived as Mukdiza’s back-to-back penalties leveled the score at 9-9.
An infringement on the KCB’s try line handed Kabras a penalty try to hand the champions a commanding 16-09 lead before KCB’s Michael Wanjala Was sent to the sin bin to decrease the chances of the bankers winning prospects.
But KCB managed to handle their lower numerical till Wanjala was back in the field. His return did not offer much when Brian Tanga converted from the penalty for a 19-3 final kick.
Katywa said that the players played their game, for the fans, community, and Kakamega family.
“Kabras is a family team and victory has given this team a lot of hope. Not just as Kabras but the community who live in Kakamega are on top of their game for the victory,” said Katywa.
His opposing side Curtis Olago said it was a game of two halves their opponents managed to handle it well unlike their side.
“We were well prepared for this game and losing is part of the game. However, we lost because we did not manage our game to the standards. We made mistakes that we did not recover on time unlike our opponents,” he said.