School Games: ‘Dago’ eliminated as Olympic book Highway in Nairobi football final

Raynold Amara's second half goal was enough to stun the regional giants, setting up a mouth-watering final clash against 2022 champions Highway Secondary School.

Dagoretti had a brilliant start, scoring in the early embers of the game but the goal was ruled offside.

The defending champions continued their search for a goal but they were twice denied by the crossbar.

Olympic came with a different gear in the second half with Raynold Amara missing a golden one on one chance before he brilliantly finished Maiven Otsimi's corner two minutes later.

Dagoretti searched for an equalizer but Olympic's defence defended their solitary goal with their hearts out.

Head coach Fredrick Onyango hailed his charges for their hard-fought victory, urging them to fight ‘like lions’ in the final.

"The game was tough, we used the first half to read the game and we used the second half to hurt them. My boys were under pressure but they held their nerves and won the game.

"Highway are wary of our threat. We've played them before and we're confident of beating them in the final," noted Onyango.

In another scintillating semi-final clash, Mohammed Hassan and Sylvanus Foe's extra time goals helped Highway edge St. Patricks 2-0 to book their third successive final.

Beldine Odemba will be hoping her boys can reclaim their glory when they clash against Olympic.

Meanwhile, boy’s rugby 7s produced fireworks as defending champions Upper Hill thumped rivals Lenana 10-05 in a nail-biting semi-final clash to storm the final.

It was a repeat of last year's final and once again Upper Hill continued their dominance against Lenana to book a final spot with Nairobi School who hammered former champions Ofafa Jericho.

In girl’s rugby, Dagoretti Mixed stunned Kibera Girls Soccer Academy 15-0 to book a final spot with Karen C who clobbered Kibera Secondary School 10-00.

Familiar foes into volleyball finals

In the boy’s category, defending champions Ruthimitu will renew rivalry with Hospital Hill in the final, a repeat of last year's final where Ruthimitu won 3-0.

Ruthimitu were the first to book a final spot after whitewashing Ruaraka high school 3-0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-10) while Hospital Hill had to dig deep to stun Lang'ata 3-1(25-27, 25-17, 25-17, 25-20) in another closely contested semi-final clash.

Ruthimitu's head coach Gideon Njine is confident they will retain their title.

"My boys have been playing well, we're up to the task and we know we will still beat Hospital Hill in the final. They are a good team but we are confident we will defend our title."

His counterpart Andrew Bahati remains buoyant of upsetting his rivals who have dominated the region for long.

"We're only aiming for the title tomorrow, this is our time to lift the trophy and we're confident we will bag it," said Bahati.

Soweto Academy will also renew their rivalry with Brownhill in the girls' final.

Soweto reigned supreme over Highridge, whitewashing them in straight sets of 25-00, 25-03 and 25-04.

Another semi-final clash saw Brown Hill rally from behind to stun State House Girls 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-16).