NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 14 – Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) captain Curtis Lilako says it is too soon to start speaking about the side winning the Kenya Cup unbeaten despite going six matches without a loss.
The bankers extended their stay at the apex of the table thanks to an 80-10 mauling of Mwamba RFC in a Saturday afternoon tie at the Strathmore University Sports Complex but Lilako insists they have to keep their feet on the ground and maintain their focus.
“No, I don’t think the Kenya Cup is as good as gone. No one can predict the future. Hopefully, we can do it (winning the Kenya Cup). If God allows, then we hope to maintain this unbeaten run. For now, we just want to take it one game at a time…today, Mwamba is done and next we face Leos (Strathmore). Then we will handle Oilers when they come,” Lilako said.
KCB began on the front foot courtesy of a Felix Ojow try in fifth minute, the resultant penalty which was converted by Darwin Mukidza.
However, Mwamba replied immediately when Eliakim Kiachoi exploited a gap in the bankers’ defence to score before Brian Kivasia converted to level the scores at 7-7.
Unfortunately, Kulabu’s resolve immediately evaporated in thin air as KCB responded like a wounded lion, rampaging to a 42-7 lead at the break.
They continued their assault on the 1983 Kenya Cup champions in the second half, Bob Muhati reopening the floodgates with an unconverted try.
Martin Owila increased disparity between the two sides with a converted try before Steve Wamai scored his second try of the day to increase the score to 61-7.
Mwamba earned a reprieve thanks to a penalty kick, which brought the scores to 61-10.
However, this only seemed to inspire the bankers for more as Ojow scored his second try of the day, followed by another Muhati try to take the scores to 75-10.
Ojow completed a great day in the office, earning his hattrick in the dying seconds of the game with another try.
The ruthless attack notwithstanding, Lilako paid tribute to their defensive resoluteness.
“I think what worked for us was the defence. We denied them the opportunities…you see once you allow your opponents much space then they are going to get points off of you. What we decided was to get them hard on the defence, deny them the space in our defence,” he explained.
Lilako added: “Nothing is ever easy. There is no team that comes to the game with the intention of losing. I think we are simply putting to work what we have been training on. We had a good period of pre-season training and the games are just going our way. Again, no one is giving us an easy time rather we are here to just do what we are supposed to do,” he said.
Everything went wrong
Speaking at the same time, Mwamba coach Kepher Ndonji admitted that everything that could have gone wrong went awry for them.
“So many things went wrong today…we didn’t have the momentum and we didn’t make the right tackles. We didn’t come round fast enough to stop their attacks. Every time we were being found offside and committing all these penalty kicks,” Ndonji said.
Regardless, the tactician was in awe of his players’ determination to the final whistle.
“We kept on putting our bodies on the line and didn’t give up despite the score. We hope we will continue with the same spirit going forward. We’ll go back (to the drawing board) on Tuesday and examine what went wrong, work on them so we can win our next matches,” he said.
Kulabu’s next Kenya Cup fixtures for January is against Menengai Oilers and Kabras Sugar.
