KERICHO, Kenya, Mar 7 – Goals in either half from Stephen Owino and Timothy Ouma saw Laiser Hill hit last year’s finalists Tumkas from Uasin Gishu County 2-0 to cruise into the Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom Rift Valley Region boys finals on Saturday at the Kericho Green Stadium.
Laiser were in cruise control of the tie and should have won the game by a wider margin had they used their chances, Ouma especially missing three sitters late in the tie.
Despite a momentary blip at the beginning of the match which saw two of their starting players plucked from the starting 11, Laiser finished the opening half a goal ahead, despite having so many scoring chances, all going begging.
Isaac Teigong and Geoffrey Sakwa were pulled out of the starting team because of a dispute in documentation, but that was later solved.
Laiser were dominant and got into the lead with two minutes left to half time after Owino slammed the ball into the net off a loose ball inside the box off a poorly defended counter.
Prior to that, the boys from Rongai were dominant. Ian Nyasani missed a sitter barely two minutes into the game when Lameck Mogusu’s shot from the edge of the area found him four yards from goal.
Nyasani had
another chance with a header off Owino’s corner being pushed to the bar by the
keeper. The industrious Nyasani however had to be substituted in the 27th
minute with a serious head injury and in his place came Teigong who had earlier
been blocked from starting.
Laiser seemed to have lost themselves as their passing suddently became erratic and Tumkas’ failure to hurt them at their downlow didn’t help matters.
In the 41st minute, Peter Leishorua missed a complete shocker, guiding the ball wide with an open goalmouth when it was harder to miss than score.
Owino did well to create space on the left and slap in a low cross and with the keeper way out of his line, Leishorua simply had to stick a boot in and let the ball roll, but he chose to take an erratic inside boot, the results leaving the crowd with hands on their heads.
His blushes were ultimately wiped away when Owino scored.
In the second half, it was same gear same pace for Laiser and it took them just five minutes to double their tally, Ouma curling a brilliant freekick into the top left corner from distance.
Minutes later, Byron Otieno also tried his luck from similar distance and angle, but his effort destined at the near post went inches wide.
Ouma had an opportunity to make it two for himself on the hour mark when he broke through on goal but couldn’t beat the keeper one on one with Mogusu also seeing the rebound fly straight to the keeper’s arms.
On the
other end, Tumkas were trying to make amends and get themselves back into
contention. Michael Abenge saw his thumping header come crushing under the
crossbar when he angled nicely to meet a well diced cross from Franklin Yatich.
Surviving the scare, Laiser kept their attacking pace.
Owino came close to a second but his thunderous shot from range was palmed away by the keeper with Ouma seeing another one on one effort saved. He had another chance when he glided past the keeper off a through pass, but the heavy first touch meant the ball rolled out of play.
