Equity Hawks coach Maina confident of title defence after stormy start

Equity Bank Hawks coach David Maina is impressed with his side’s displays so far, having maintained their perfect start to the season.

The Hawks did not play over the weekend but have emerged victorious in both of their two outings this season.

While he is making the most of the breather, Maina, in an interview with Citizen Digital, expressed his satisfaction with the progress they’ve made so far despite a few challenges.

“We have started well given that we’re coming from an off-season. Definitely with a few changes here and there you start a bit slow but we are picking up well. I’m glad that we’ve started well because we have won all of our two matches so far,” he said.

After a successful pre-season build-up, the manager is happy that his players have hit the ground running as they aim to go all the way and retain the title.

“My players have adjusted remarkably well because there was movement in the off-season. The incomers have gelled very well with the rest of the team. We will continue to work hard so that they fully integrate into the team because that is significant for our performance.”

Among the pre-season departures are Kenya stalwart Hilda Indasi, skipper Sylvia Ongwae, Joyce Nabwire, Joyce Salah, and Brenda Mwaniki.

However, despite suffering these departures, Maina is relishing his side’s chances of making it through the league and into the play-offs in a journey aimed at retaining the title.

“We will get to the final. That is a guarantee from us,” he concluded.

Elsewhere, Ulinzi power-forward Erick Mutoro dropped a game high of 30 points to help his team coast past Umoja 73-64 in a Nairobi classic held at the Nyayo Gymnasium on Saturday.

Ulinzi surged ahead with a 14-12 lead in the first quarter and built on that to record a 33-30 half-time lead.

Also, Victor Bosire and James Mwangi combined for 22 points as the soldiers went on to record their10th consecutive victory.  Allan Ouma was Umoja shining light after he scored 18 points all but in vain.

In another match, USIU-A Flames scored eight points in overtime to overcome a resilient Kenyatta University (KU) Oryx side 46-43.

The game had ended tied 38-38 in the fourth quarter.

Gitau Waringo’s KU Oryx failed to replicate their regular time scoring exploits on overtime as the Flames went one better.

Point guard Fridah Yabomba led USIU by dropping 18 points, while center Jemimah Night added six more points to steer the Flames past Oryx.

Individually, Oryx’s duo of Teresia Ekise and Sharon Odera had an impressive outing after they combined for 33 points.

Collated Results

Eagle wings 53-30 Delight

Emyba 73– 71 Eldoret

USIU-A Flames 46-43 Kenyatta University Oryx

Ulinzi 76-64 Umoja