Resolution Impala Saracens could have registered a try very early in the first half through Hosea Ngesa but referee Victor Oduor denied him the honors. Minutes later, Impala hooker – Dan Ndome barged over the try-line but George Okowa’s attempt at the posts flew wide. The never – happened before Impala lead irritated Kabras & soon enough Impala were on the receiving end of barrage after another from Kabras. Hosea Ngesa was caught struggling with defending Kabras speedster – Jone Kubu and in desperate efforts wrapped his hands high. Oduor was not slow in issuing him the yellow card. The resultant penalty kicked over by Ivan Chirabo reduced the score difference between the two teams to only 2 points. Kabras’ Lekima Tuidraki was first Kabras player to be sent to the bin for dangerous play. 4 minutes later, Max Adaka was caught breaking rules time and again in own 5. 2 minutes after referee Victor Oduor flashed yellow to Adaka and confirmed penalty – try for Impala, Ivan Chirabo’s boot kicked over once more for Kabras bringing scores to Impala 12-6 Kabras by half-time.
The third yellow card against Kabras flashed at Felix Ayange after his late tackle on Robin Kiplang’at. George Okowa kicked over the penalty to register Impala’s last 3 points in the 2016/17 XV season. Kabras could have garnered 6 points but designated kicker of the afternoon – Chirabo missed on two consecutive events. He howeever redeemed self when he dived into the try box after a controversial pass from Jone Kubu. Phillip Wokorach converted. Okowa had the chance to boot Impala 6 points ahead of the hosts, but missed the sticks. Wokorach then took advantage of Impala indiscipline by kicking over to bring proceedings to Kabras 16-15 Impala. The remainder of the match would have been for Impala to win, but Mohammed Omollo kicked wide and George Okowa kicked short from penalty.
Resolution Impala Saracens Head Coach Frank Ndong’: We totally dominated the lineouts and scrums. I think discipline is the only area we faulted in and sadly, Kabras punished us. We had situations from which we should have harvested points. The missed kicks in the final minutes of the match are not the only opportunities we shouldn’t have bottled. I am however very happy with the young players who came out to play this match. Remember, we have 6 core players with Kenya XV. Kabras have only 1. We also played without 5 more players who contributed to the win against Quins last weekend. We haven’t seen this amount of depth at Impala for ages. The future is indeed bright.
Resolution Impala Saracens Backs coach Oscar Osir: It is a painful loss. There were 3 pressure kicks we needed to make lemonade out of but we missed them. We just need to work on how to get sharper when it comes to converting chances. Big priority for us right now is building up to next season through a proper pre-season framework.
Kabras have kept their record of not losing against Impala in Kakamega but Impala has broken Kabras’ record of never trailing against Impala in this part of Kenya.
