Resolution Impala Saracens are officially out of the 2017 Dala 7s Main Cup trophy chase. Going into the match, both teams had a 1-1 head to head record. Impala was beaten by Blad at the 2017 Kabeberi 7s. A 21-7 loss on day 1 that served as a wake up call to the Gazelles who later won the main cup trophy on day 2. Impala beat Blad 10-7 in Nakuru but mathematics saw Nakuru & Blad advance to the Main Cup Quarters. This match was going to be a dominance determiner and was perhaps the most watched main cup quarter fixture as it featured two crowd favorites.
BlakBlad made their intentions well known immediately after kick off. Moses Begi broke 3 tackles & sprinted to the try box to open proceedings at the Mamboleo Showground. Brian Waihinya converted easily. Fantastic interplay between the Impala backs opened up Samson Onsomu who scored at a position that Kwemoi should have converted easily, but he missed. Impala’s last try was scored by Daniel Adongo who outsprinted Levi Omungo to touch down at the corner. Kwemoi kicked wide once more.
Half-Time: Resolution Impala Saracens 10-7 BlakBlad
Arcadius Wesa tore open Impala defence but Waihinya struggled to find the extras. Impala were trailing by only 2 points to Blad. It was expected that Impala would walk out of the muddy pitch with a neat comeback, but a handling error by Mark Kwemoi gifted Blad the put-in chance at scrum. The students stolidly won it. Hungry as they were, quick feet by Moses Begi, the resultant dive try at the corner & the 4th match official’s hooter confirmed Impala’s relegation to the Plate competition.
FT: Resolution Impala Saracens 10-17 BlakBlad
Resolution Impala Saracens 7s Assistant Coach – Nick Abok:
We were not hungry in the morning. Sport is interesting to the bit that even if you have a plan but are not hungry enough to execute it, you won’t succeed. Blad were hungrier than us and they won it. We are out of the NSC 2017 trophy contention but we still have the plate competition to play in. We should therefore correct the mistakes made in the quarters & win the plate trophy.
Resolution Impala Saracens Director of Rugby – Fred Ollows:
In muddy conditions, play is often unpredictable. Muddy conditions even out teams. It all went down to the bouncing of the ball but one must appreciate the handling mistake we made when the match was 10-12 to Blad. The boys still have to play like they are still in the circuit chase. There is no point of sulking. We have to continue chasing.
Resolution Impala Saracens 7s Head Coach – Oscar Osir:
Our attitude was completely off. I must apologise to all our fans for how our players approached the game. Next for us is for our players to motivate themselves & win the plate. We know it is unusual to be playing at the plate at a moment like this, but we have to play to win it.