Upper Hill ease past Nairobi, sets up final clash with Strathmore

Reigning Nairobi region Rugby 15 champions Upper Hill booked their final slot in the ongoing Nairobi region Secondary Schools Sports Association school games after demolishing hosts Nairobi School 60-0.

Jackson Otieno and Arnold Bushuru each scored two tries, leading Nairobi's demolition and securing Upper Hill's spot in the final for the fifth consecutive year.

It was yet another sorry loss for the Patch Machine after suffering a 43-3 loss to the defending champions in last year’s final.

Head coach Newton Mose was impressed with his boys' strong performance and expressed confidence in winning tomorrow's final.

“A good shift from the boys today, they earned the victory. They paid attention to small details and executed our plan well. We are looking forward to doing the same in the final and defending the title,” said Mose.

His sentiments were echoed by captain Chrispinus Makokha who expressed confidence in retaining their title.

“We are ready for tomorrow, we have prepared well and this will be our title,” a confident Makokha said.

Another semi-final saw Strathmore stun 2024 champions Lenana 19-17 to qualify for the final for the first time in 35 years.

The bandits staged an incredible comeback, winning with the last kick of the game courtesy of John Mogusu's try.

Strathmore had a slow start, conceding a try in the 15th minute from Sam Wamalwa who converted it to give the Mean Maroon a 7-0 lead into the break.

However, The Bandits came with a different gear in the second half, finding an equalizer just after the re-start through Shakah Otieno with penalty maestro Kakai Simiyu converting.

Their celebrations lasted only three minutes after Sam Wamalwa struck and converted again, giving The Mean Maroon a 14-7 lead.

Five minutes later, a resilient Strathmore fought back, with Shakah Otieno scoring his second of the day which Simiyu failed to convert, reducing the deficit to 14-12.

Their celebrations were cut short yet again as Lenana earned a penalty in quick succession with Vincent Kipsang converting to extend their lead to 17-12.

With Strathmore heading out of the final after an impressive campaign, Mogusu stepped up when the team needed him most, making an excellent run on the left side and dodging past Lenana’s defence to score the winning try.

Head coach David Ndimba termed the win a hard-fought victory against a well-oiled side.”

“The game was tough. Lenana were very good and they camped in our half. I’m happy we stood up and won the game, the best team won,” said Ndimba.

The two sides will clash in a block-busting final to be staged at Nairobi school on Saturday.

In the girl’s category, Karen C spanked hapless St. Claire’s Nembu 56-00 while Mbagathi Girls destroyed Garden Estate 62:00.

The two will clash in the region’s first rugby 15s girls’ final on Saturday.

Hockey also produced grueling matches as Hospital Hill and Nairobi School booked final places after seeing off Lenana and Starehe boys respectively.

Hospital Hill staged an incredible comeback to stun last year’s runner’s up Lenana 3-1 courtesy of David Ashvin’s goals to storm their second successive final.

Atlan Githaiga had givem Lenana the lead in the 20th minute before Ashvin equalized four minutes later to make it 1-1 into the break.

Second half also produced a grueling battle with both sides sweating to find an equalizer, but Ashvin struck twice in three minutes in the dying embers of the game to hand Nyari Boys an emphatic victory.

Hospital Hill’s team manager Adam Oburu was delighted with his boys’ performance.

“The game was tough, we fought back from 1-0 to cruise to victory. We worked hard for the victory because we wanted to avoid going to penalties. We are ready for the final and look forward to winning.”

In another semi-final 2024 champions Nairobi School narrowly defeated Starehe 1-0 to storm to the final.

The hosts were dominated throughout the game, conceding a record 17 short corners but goalkeeper Carl Okoth was impressive between the sticks to guard Nairobi’s lead.

Girls’ final will see rivalry renewed between reigning champions Mwiki secondary school and former champions Pangani Girls.

Mwiki stormed to the final after white-washing St. George's 3-0 thanks to goals from Gloria Okenyuri, Purity Moraa and Nancy Nyambura.

Pangani’s solitary goal by Michelle Gesare was enough to lift them past Ngara girls in another semi-final.

The two sides will meet in a final for the first time since 2024 when Pangani outwitted Mwiki 1-0 in a post-match shootout.