Second place in focus as hockey season ends

In Summary

• Barkibir and George Mutira both of champions Butali Sugar Warriors and Johnstone Indiazi (Sailors) are tied second with eight goals each respectively.
• In the women’s category, the evergreen Jackline Mwangi (Blazers) have eight goals followed closely by Gilly Okumu (Strathmore) with seven goals, while Alice Owiti (Lakers) is joint third with Barbara Simiyu of Blazers on six goals.

Kenya Police and Wazalendo have a date on Sunday as they clash for the second position in the men's Premier League as the 2019 Kenya Hockey Union season concludes at the City Park Stadium, Nairobi.

Interestingly, the two teams are separated by one point with Wazalendo having 33 points, while the law enforcers have 32 points from 17 matches played.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash, Wazalendo coach Fidhelis Kimanzi said the end result will count for nothing, saying for them it has always been development of players.

Kimanzi said if anything, it’s their opponents who would be under pressure, since they will be out to guard their second position.

“Definitely it will be an exciting match to look out for. However, we will take the clash like any other match as we target the three points. Last season, we finished fourth and based on current position, I think we have made a remarkable improvement and it’s something to proud of,” said the tactician.

Kenya Police coach Patrick Mugambi said they will be out for revenge after Wazalendo beat them 2-1 in the first leg.

“We are going for three points and failure to do that or play to a draw will be an advantage to our opponents and we are not ready to do that.

“We know Wazalendo are relatively young squad and we have to contain them in the middle department. Sadly, we lost two of our key strikers in Amos Barkibir and Calvin Kanu to Butali Sugar Warriors and we failed to recruit.

The performance this season is not what we had planned for, but we want to guard our second position that will see us qualify for the next year’s Africa Cup for Club Championship as we target to recruit heavily ahead of next season."

On Saturday, former champions Strathmore University play Parklands having already cement their stay in the top tier.

The side coached by Meshack Senge are third from bottom with 12 points from 17 matches, while the already-relegated Parklands are pegged bottom with seven points from the same number of matches played.

Senge acknowledged it has been a torrid season for his side, but remained hopefully of better seasons going forward.

Another Super League-bound team Sikh Union take on Western Jaguars away in Kakamega , before Sailors battle United States International University of Africa (USIU A) in another Premier League match.

In the women’s Premier League, Strathmore University Scorpions cross swords with Amira Sailors as the fight for third place finish takes centre stage.

At the same time, the fight for the golden stick in the men’s and women’s Premier League will be at play as Chris Wokila (Greesharks) and Festus Onyango (Strathmore) both on 11 goals go head- to -head.

Barkibir and George Mutira both of champions Butali Sugar Warriors and Johnstone Indiazi (Sailors) are tied second with eight goals each respectively.

In the women’s category, the evergreen Jackline Mwangi (Blazers) have eight goals followed closely by Gilly Okumu (Strathmore) with seven goals, while Alice Owiti (Lakers) is joint third with Barbara Simiyu of Blazers on six goals.

FIXTURES (All matches at City Park Stadium unless stated)

Saturday

Strathmore University v Amira (12 noon)

Wazalendo Master v Mvita (2pm)

Mombasa Sports Club v Wolverines (Mombasa,3pm)

Western Jaguars v Sikh Union (Kakamega,3pm)

Nakuru v KCAU (Nakuru, 3pm)

Parklands v Strathmore University (4pm)

Sailors v USIU-A(6pm)

Sunday

TUK v Mvita (9am)

Amira Sailors v Laker(11am)

Nakuru v Kenyatta University (Nakuru,1pm)

Kenya Police v Wazalendo (1pm)