Itigo to face Kitale Queens in Chapa Dimba Rift final

Itigo Girls High School and Kitale Queens are through to the Chapa Dimba Rift Valley regional finals after winning their respective last four matches held Saturday at Eldoret Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) showground.

The students ran to a comfortable 3-1win over South Rift’s Bomet Queens in the first female semi-final match.

Holgar Jepkorir put Itigo infornt in the 18th minute before skipper Mercy Tarus doubled their lead in the 41st minute as Vicky Korir sealed the win with the third goal in the 66th minute.

Bomet would however grab a consolation deep into the end of the second half courtesy of Windrose Chepkoech.

The win propelled Itigo to the finals slated for Sunday with head coach Emmanuel Kogo braced for a tough encounter with a berth in the national finals at stake.

“I think we played well only that we did concede a goal which we will be eager to rectify on the finals tomorrow. As we go to the finals our only aim is to win and we hope everything will work out well for us because our main target is to reach the finals,” said Kogo who also doubles up as a teacher in the school.

School Principal Juliah Samoei was equally elated after her girls qualified for the finals in their maiden appearance in the tournament.

“I am actually happy to see that we have reached this far. Our work as the administration is to support these young talents alongside the education we give them,” said Samoei.

In another semi final, Kitale Queens earned a hard fought 2-0 win over Nakuru West Queens.

Phylis Chemtai put Kitale to an early lead in the ninth minute before Metrine Nanjala scored the second and the winner in the 73rd minute.

Kitale Queens head coach Justin Okiring
was full of praise of her charges although he lamented the disqualification of his first team players but nevertheless showed confidence ahead of their final against Itigo on Sunday.

“I had to restructure my tactical approach in this game after some of my players were disqualified but we have done well and now that we are in the finals we are ready for the challenge against Original who are a good team as well,” noted Okiring.

Itigo and Queens will now face off on Sunday morning with the winning team earning a slot in the nationals set for June 9-10 in Meru County.

Moreover, the winner will also pocket sh200,000 as the runners up bags sh 100,000 while the two players from each region will be selected to form an all-star team that will attend a training camp in Spain where they will play against local youth sides.