The eleventh Kenya Cup match day, last weekend, saw Resolution Impala Saracens battle it out with league debutantes Thika RFC. The Millars’ initial resistance would eventually buckle under the Resolution Sarries territorial and possession dominance. Scrum half Mohammed Omollo fed off that when he scored a try off the 5m scrum base from number 8 and captain Duncan Ekasi’s pass. Fullback George Okowa duly converted for a 7-0 Impala lead.
Impala would extend this lead when fly half Nato Simiyu played in blindside winger Ian Minjire to beat the Millars’ set defence. Okowa nailed the extras for the 14-0 Impala lead. Simiyu would shortly after introduce outside centre Samuel Motari on a switch to extend the score to 21-0, Impala.
Ekasi would next be on the scoreboard when he touched down centrepost from a series of pick and drive ruck formations. Okowa added the conversion for the 28-0 scoreline.
Openside winger Quinto Ongo would later field a Thika kick, do a 40m dash for the chalk leaving Thika defenders in his wake, for his first Kenya Cup try this season. Okowa was off the goal mark this time leaving the score at 33-0.
Thika would then make their first entry into Impala’s red zone through a lineout. The Ngong Road based side would however turn it over. A wide ball from Simiyu to Motari would see him combine with Ongo for a long range sixth Impala try. The Okowa boot would fail him a second time, for the 38-0 half time score.
Thika would then kick off second half. It would be a series of penalties within the Millars’ half, before the teams settled. Okowa would then change pace on a back run to crack the Thika defence wide open to score under the posts. He converted to add on to make the score 45-0.
Thika would then retain possession for long to pressure the Resolution Insurance sponsored side. Their infield kick would however be punished with an Okowa catch and wide play would see reserve centre Billy Omondi (Motari) dot down for Impala’s 50th point. Omollo would convert to escalate the score to 52-0.
Impala loose head prop Stephen Juma would then be yellow carded after Thika racked up more pressure in the Impala red zone, inspite of the daunting scoreline. The Millars would however lose the ball to an industrious reserve flanker Joel Omer. He would combine with Ongo who would play in Omondi for his brace try. Omollo converted. 59-0, Impala.
Thika would then, once more, exert sustained pressure on the Gazelles. Their fly half Muchiri Mureithi would make the pressure pay off with a penalty conversion off a ruck infringement, shifting the score to 59-3. Moments later, Omollo would attack a ruck base in the Thika 22 and step his way to his brace of tries. He would then goal to converr the scores to 66-3.
Reserve fullback Samuel Oliech (Okowa) would then receive a try assist from Ongo, who enjoyed a fine evening, to score and breach the 70 point mark. His conversion of his closed the score at 73-3. But, not before Ongo knocked on a return favour 2 v1 try scoring pass from Oliech in Impala’s long range attack from their 22…73-03, FT.