Hockey: Kenya edge Zambia to extend ACN victory

It was the second successive win for the Kenyan men’s team after bouncing from three defeats to edge Nigeria 2-1 on Wednesday.

Ivan Ludiali(Jaguars), Linton Nayombe(USIU) and Cliffe Omari (Sikh Union) were on target for Kenya with Abraham Tagwireyi and Alfred Mpande responding for Zambia.

The Zambians managed to frustrate fearless Chui in the first period with Tagwireyi opening the score sheet-eight minutes into the game, Mpande topping up with another clinical field goal four minutes to the end of the quarter.

Chui then decided to launch its claws to corner the visitors. Jaguars defensive midfielder Ludiali cancelled one six minutes into the second quarter with a superb tap-in field goal.

In less than a minute, Chui revamped their attacking tactics leading to USIU's offensive midfielder field goal equalizer.

Visitors Zambia decided to launch an attack to cancel the comeback but the effort did not bore fruits due to strong defence, leading to suspension of Omwaka Mathias-final minute to half time.

Third quarter turned into a defensive tough match, Zambia failing to utilise their penalty corners to collect a point.

Sikh Union Forward Cliffe utilised Jaguars defensive midfielder Fred Ouma pass to claim the second consecutive win, seven seconds into the final quarter.

The results set Kenya second last with six points on a six-country pool standings.

Later, Egypt will host Ghana with defending champions South Africa hoping to extend their reign when they play Nigeria.