Why Ocholla expects tough battle from relegated Machine

Nakuru RFC head coach Mitch Ocholla expects a tough match against already relegated varsity side Mean Machine as the Kenya Cup comes to an end this weekend.

“Mean Machine is still a dangerous side despite being relegated to the championship and they will want to go out in style so that’s makes it a tough match,” Mitch warned.

Ocholla will miss the services of Oscar Ouma and Gramwel Bunyasi who are in Hong Kong for  international duty with Shujaa.

“Some of the players won’t be available for selection this weekend with Oscar and Bunyasi out of the country for the Hong Kong Sevens,” he said, adding that, “Ezekiel Waitere sustained injury in last weekend’s clash against Blak Blad and that’s means we won’t take Machine for granted.”

The Nakuru based side welcomes back Cassius Omollo who wasn’t available last weekend due to personal commitments.

‘The Wanyores’ are sixth in the 12-team log tied with seventh placed Nondescripts on 42 points, two behind fifth place Mwamba.

With Mwamba RFC  facing Menengai Oilers away at the Nakuru showground this weekend and Nondies having an uphill task against third placed Kenya Harlequins at the RFUEA ground, the former Shujaa tactician believes that Mwamba and Nondies will fight to the last hurdle to finish in the playoffs position.

“No advantage for us facing a relegated side because Mwamba and Nondies will also play to their level best to win, so we are going to focus on Machine targeting a win and we will have to wait for the other results to know our fate.”

“Kabras Sugar will be a tough task for Impala Saracens so they can find themselves in some trouble same to us if we lose against Machine. Oilers are also on form and if they beat Mwamba that will also change the standings, so we will take what is in our plate, we can’t really focus on the other teams.”

Ocholla reckons that with the battle close, he can ill afford to shift to permutations as doing so will put him in a risky situation of losing  focus on their objective — getting a result against  Machine.

Elsewhere, Impala Saracens will host current leaders Kabras Sugar in a early kickoff at the RFUEA ground at 2pm while Menengai Cream Homeboyz play defending champions KCB at Ruaraka ground.

Saturday 6 April 2019

Menengai Cream Homeboyz v KCB 4.00pm

Kenya Harlequin v Nondescripts – 4:00pm

Menengai Oilers v Stanbic Mwamba – 4.00 pm

Resolution Impala Saracens v Kabras Sugar – 2:00pm

Strathmore Leos v Blak Blad – 4.00 pm

Mean Machine v Top Fry Nakuru  – 4.00 pm