Alex Njue and Gibo Zachary @PeopleSports11
For a third straight year, Kabras and KCB will square it out for the Kenya Cup title after both booked a place in the final on May 11.
The two have been untouchable all season and booked another date in the final which will be played in Kakamega for the first time after Kabras finished top of the standings, giving them home ground advantage.
The venue adds pressure on Kabras to finally end their hoodoo over KCB whom they have never beaten, including losing the last two finals to the bankers in Nairobi.
Kabras booked their place courtesy of a 23-11 home win over Mwamba while KCB whitewashed visiting Kenya Harlequins 46-12 in the semi-final to leave them 80 minutes away from the promised land.
Despite challenge
Kabras scored two converted tries and three penalties through Felix Ayange, Mario Wilson and Philip Wokorach. KCB meanwhile, posted six tries and three conversions to keep their hunt for a fourth title in five years and seventh overall on course.
“It’s back to training for us. We have a lot to work on before the final. The players knew what they needed to do and despite the challenge, we still managed to control the game from the beginning which is among the positives we take forward,” said KCB coach Curtis Olago. KCB beat Kabras 38-7 and 29-24 to win the 2017 and 2018 titles respectively.
Meanwhile, Western Bulls and Kisumu RFC have returned to the Kenya Cup after beating United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) Martials and Catholics Monks in the semi-finals of the second tier KRU Championship at the weekend.
Bulls have been in the cold for two years while Kisumu suffered relegation three years ago and will now dine with the big boys once more, replacing Strathmore Leos and Mean Machine who dropped down from Kenya Cup this season.
After finishing top and runners-up in the regular season respectively, Monks and Martials earned the right to host the semi-finals and looked favourites on paper but Kisumu and Bulls had other ideas. Kisumu beat Monks 14-11 in extra time as Bulls downed USIU 22-16 to clinch their return tickets to Kenya Cup.
