Resolution Impala Saracens’ fullback Anthony Odhiambo drilled in a 40M penalty kick that sent his side to the finals at the Impala Grounds. The Sarries were trailing 8-10 for the most part of the match against opponents KCB but Odhiambo’s kick awarded them the 11-10 win in the last play.
The hosts were first on the scoreboard as Quinto Ongo split the posts with a penalty kick for an early 3-0 lead that was quickly watered down after the Bankers went over the whitewash with their signature rolling maul. Captain Curtis Lilako grounded the ball and winger, Jacob Ojee added the twos for KCB to take a 7-3 lead.
KCB’s Davis Chenge was sent to the bin for a high tackle but the Bankers’ defense was unbreakable as they held on the 7-3 lead for the ten minutes. Immediately Chenge got back in to the pitch, KCB extended their lead to 10-3 off an Impala infringement through Shaban Ahmed’s boot. Billy Omondi’s quick feet saw him cut through KCB’s defense to race for the try line narrowing the gap to 8-10. Ongo missed the conversion for the half time scores to read 8-10 in favour of the Bankers.
Second half, KCB’s attempt at extending their lead through Jacob Ojee was cut short as the ball was ripped out of his hands by Samson Onsomu. What followed next was an exchange of missed penalties, one from KCB and three from the Sarries. In the last play, a KCB infringement saw the referee award a penalty to Impala; Anthony Odhiambo was tasked with sending his team to the final and he did it with ease. He split the posts to score the only points in the second half that also sent the Sarries to the final.
“First half was only KCB, we had only three visits but managed to collect points from them. Second we turned up the tempo, contained their off loads thus shutting down their continuity.” said Frank Ndong, Resolution Impala Saracens Head Coach.
“Considering the hard games we’ve had in the last one month, we will need the boys to rest to re-energize.” concluded Ndong.
At the RFUEA Grounds, Kabras Sugar RFC handed their hosts the Kenya Harlequins a 54-11 loss.
Kabras and Impala will face off in the #EnterpriseCup final on the 25th of May. The venue for this fixture will be shared in subsequent communication.
Photo: Resolution Impala Saracens