Nondies will rue a last minute conversion miss following a 25-23 defeat to Strathmore Leos that knocks them out of the Impala Floodlit tournament at the quarter final stage.
Nondies appeared to be down at halftime but crawled their way back to within four points after heading to the break trailing 23-6. Leos touched down through Austin Mboya and Philemon Olang with number nine Gideon Makumi adding a penalty and conversion in between Olang’s two tries. Nondies’ two penalties were kicked by Martin Juma, whose side failed to reach the trybox even despite Leos being reduced to fourteen men following Matoka Matoka’s yellow card.
With Nondies trailing and having an extra man on the pitch at the start of the closing half, Strathmore’s lead was severely questioned by Nondies who had multiple waves of their attack being repelled before finally going over in the corner through scrumhalf Saidi Sumba. Leos finally succumbed to the pressure and after Sumba’s try, new signing Steve Odhiambo did not take long before making his mark for the Red Lion.
The loose forward who joined from Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad scored twice but Nondies were undone by the missed conversions to Odhiambo’s brace of tries. Makumi’s penalty put some breathing space on Strathmore’s lead after Odhiambo had scored his debut try for Nondies but Nondies continued to believe only to encounter disappointment when the full time whistle was blown at the end of the game.
Strathmore
Tries – Philemon Olang 2, Austin Mboya 1
Conversions – Gideon Makumi 2, Penalties 2
