Telkom Kenya maintained their quest for this year’s Africa Club Hockey Championship title after a comfortable 4-1 victory Nigeria’s Delta Queens in Abuja today.
Kenya’s other representatives USIU Spartans are still in search of their first victory at the championships after going down 1-0 against defending champions Ghana Revenue Authority. This was the first win for the Ghanaians at this year’s continental championships.
Telkom Kenya skipper Tracey Karanja opened the scoring in the second minute, before Jackline Mwangi sounded the board seven minutes later. Barbara Simiyu added the third as the newly crowned Kenyan champions cruised to a 3-0 halftime score.
After the breather, the Kenyans took the foot off the pedal and they were duly punished as Esther Billo pulled one back for Delta Queens. Stung into action,Mwangi restored their three goal cushion soon after.
The Abuja heat slowed down Telkom Kenya but they hung on to collect maximum points in their third match. The Jos Openda-coached team sit on top of the standings with nine points.
In the other match, Elizabeth Opoku’s lone goal was what Ghana Revenue Authority needed to down a hard fighting USIU Spartans side. GRA are now in third spot two points ahead of USIU. The Kenyans drew 1-1 with Delta Queens in their opening clash on Saturday.
USIU Spartans team manager John Kabu says that the team now shifts their focus on finishing third. “We needed the three points but we were not able today.Realistically, our target now shifts to getting the bronze medal at the end of the tournament,” he told Nation Sport.
A rather optimistic Rachel Wangui picked positives from their loss and blamed“some poor umpiring decisions” for their results. “I would say we had some poor umpiring that cost us some points. We deserved a few short corners but the umpires missed those calls. We live to fight another day,” she said.
Telkom Kenya plays Nigeria’s Kada Queens on Wednesday as USIU Spartans take on Ghana Police.
Daily Nation