Defending champions Kakamega High on Saturday retained the boys rugby title after defeating St Marys Yala 18-3 ion a tough final as curtains came down on the Brookside Kenya secondary schools Term One championships at Mangu High School.

In other results, Shimba Hills and Upper Hill clinched the girls and boys basketball titles respectively, while Lake regions Obambo High overcame all odds to defeat Shimba Hills to claim the girls netball tile.

Kakamega favourites

The outcome of the rugby final was never in question as Kakamega High  who are now unbeaten in this competition for two years  stepped up a gear against an equally strong St Marys Yala in a match watched by a capacity crowd that included Kenya Rugby Unions development manager Micheal ‘Tank Otieno.

Nelson Sangara cheekily skipped through a number of challenges to set the pace for the victors in the final match by touching down in the opening minute.

Conversion

Edgar Khafumi converted moments later as the defending champions silenced a majority of those in attendance who seemed sympathetic to the plight of St Marys Yala.

Bill Esakwa added two penalties soon after as the defending champions, who beat hosts Mangu High School courtesy of a toss of coin in the final of last years championships, went to the break with a 13-0 lead.

St Marys Yala came back forcefully in the opening 15 minutes of the second half but couldnt find a way past a resilient and physically-imposing Kakamega High.

Felix Juma managed what turned out to be a consolation penalty for St Marys Yala in the 25th minute of the match, but Esabwa responded immediately with another successful penalty just moments later as Kakamega strolled to a straight forward victory.

Future plans

This was the most satisfying of achievements, because defending any title is the hardest part” Khafumi said, adding: We will not be resting on our laurels, the East Africa school games are up in a few months time and so it will be important that we practice hard and maintain shape.”

St Marys Yalas Levy Amunga was named the tournaments most valuable Player as the championships came to a close. Earlier, Kangaru had defeated Nakuru Day 20-0 in the third place play-offs to finish third.

Courtesy of Daily Nation