KHU title race intensifies as Butali, Police win

With the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League title race proving to be intense, defending champions Kenya Police head coach Patrick Mugambi has said that his team is under no pressure as they enter the season homestretch.

This year’s men’s premier league has proved to be a two horse race between the champions Kenya Police who are second on the log with 45 points and league leaders Butali Sugar Warriors who are currently topping the 12- team standings with 48 points having played 18 matches, two more than the law enforcers.

Both teams registered wins over the weekend as the 2015 Champions Butali bounced back from the 1-0 loss to Parkroad Badgers when they thrashed Nairobi Simba 4-1 at the City Park on Sunday.

Police on the other hand earned a hard fought 1-0 over Western Jaguars on Saturday in a match played at Kakamega which traditionally has been a difficult ground for them given that they lost on the same score line when they last visited the venue.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Mugambi disclosed that he was happy with his team performance as they managed to exert revenge on Jaguars although he bemoaned the quality of the playing surface.

“The game was hard due to the nature of the pitch but I am happy that we managed to beat Jaguars given that we’ve been struggling when we visit them, furthermore we also missed a lot of chances which could have changed the scores,” said Mugambi.

Mugambi affirmed that they are currently focused on retaining the title although he played down the fact that they are in a neck and neck tie with Butali.

“We are never concerned about Butali, we are only targeting a win in all our remaining matches then we will see what happens,” added Mugambi.

In other matches, fourth placed Greensharks ended their seven-game winless run with a 1-0 win over the struggling Parklands Sports Club which is currently second from the bottom with 17 points.

In Nakuru, hosts Nakuru and Parkroad Badgers played to a barren draw as Wazalendo returned to winning ways with a 3-2 win over Nairobi Simba on Saturday.

In the only women’s premier league match played, Chase Amira were held to a 1-1 draw with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) on Saturday in a match that head coach Robert Mucheni blames partly on fatigue on his players as well as the countless chances that went begging.

“We didn’t execute our game well owing to the many mistakes we made, we were eager to score more goals but we did not convert our chances which I can blame on fatigue,” lamented Mucheni.

The draw leaves Chase third on the seven-team league with 13 points, 17 points adrift of league leaders Telkom who are on course for a record 21st title with only two games to spare for the Jos Openda- led team.

-Report by Gilbert Kiprotich