Lenana triumph in Nairobi region, Hospital Hill dominate handball

Lenana School were crowned Rugby 15s champions after thumping arch-rivals Upper Hill 6-5 in the Kenya Secondary School Sports Association Nairobi region school games held at Jamhuri High School.

Joel Ochego once again rose to the occasion as his two brilliant penalties, scored in each half, and helped Lenana secure a national ticket after 18 years in the cold.

It was Lenana who got off the lid first in the closely contested tie, with Joel Ochego converting a penalty after a foul play from the former champions to give Lenana a 3-0 lead into the break.

Second half produced a different show as Upper Hill rallied back through Livingston Onyango who tossed past Lenana's defence to score a try, handing the former champions a 5-3 lead.

Upper Hill thought they were on the brink of reigning supreme when they committed a foul in the dying embers of the game, and Joel Ochego made no mistake, brilliantly converting what proved to be the match winner.

Lenana's head coach Nick Abok hailed his charges for their epic performance.

"I'm happy for the boys, we dreamt for this moment and we kept the dream alive. Discipline and commitment won us the game. We will not just go to the nationals to be pushovers but we will fight for the trophy."

Abok also praised the player of the match Ochego for his individual brilliance.

"The way Ochego kicks the ball is unbelievable. He has the technical ability that every club would wish to have in a player. He has been an important player for us and we depend on him in such moments," noted Abok.

Earlier on Nairobi School thumped Dagoretti high school 16-15 to finish third.

In handball, Hospital Hill and Dagoretti retained their boys' and girls' crown respectively.

Morgan Wafula inspired Hospital Hill's dominance against Highway - scoring eight goals to help the reigning champions dispatch their opponents 27-20.

Head coach Emmanuel Wabule was awed by the impressive shift put in by his boys.

"We are happy for the win. We used our experience to win and this year we have won by a bigger margin compared to last year. We now look forward to defending our national title."

In girls contest, Dagoretti Mixed dispatched Highridge Girls High School 49-13 to defend their regional crown and book a ticket to the nationals.

In hockey, two first half goals from Clinton Atei and David Mutua were enough to secure Nairobi School a 2-0 victory over Starehe, successfully defending their title.

There was a new champion in the girls' contest as Pangani Girls saw off Mwiki secondary school 1-0 in a penalty shootout to book a national ticket.

The two sides squandered their chances in the normal time leaving the shootout to decide the winner.

Girls' basketball saw Buruburu girls reclaimed their title after routing Olympic high school 43-30.

Buruburu head coach Julius Otieno was over the moon after getting past Olympic.

"Hard Work, patience and focus won us the game. We lost to Olympic twice and today we came back with an aim to hurt them. We are now going to the nationals to fight for the trophy and book an East African ticket, it will not be easy but we are going for it," said Otieno.

In the boys' contest, Dagoretti high school got off the canvas and lifted the hosts Jamhuri High School spanking them 58-46 to book their ticket to the nationals.

The nationals will serve off from April 6-14, 2024 in Machakos County