NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 4 – Darwin Mukidza drilled home a sudden death penalty as KCB RFC came from 20-0 down at halftime to stun Kabras Sugar 28-25 at the Nandi Bears Club on Saturday evening and retain their Kenya Cup title.
This was the fifth time that the two rivals were meeting in the final and when it looked like Kabras had finally found a way past the bankers, KCB pulled one off their backs to stage an impressive comeback and beat the sugarmen in the fifth final against them.
Vincent Onyala’s last gasp try converted by Johnstone Olindi sent the game to extra time and the bankers had it within their tanks to pull over a win and clinch their fourth successive Kenya Cup conquest.
Kabras were quick off the blocks and led 6-0 courtesy of a pair of converted penalties by Ntubeni Dukisa.
A brace from Jone Kubu, both of which was converted by Dukisa further added to their brilliant start. Kubu, a Fijian who has been naturalized as a Kenyan landed the game’s first try when the ball was sprayed to the right off a scrum.
He dummied past one challenger before dotting down under the posts. Kubu once again showed up on the right when he strongly bumped away from a tackle before touching down as the Kakamega based side went 20-0 up.
The bankers’ afternoon went worse when Isaac Njoroge was sent to the sin bin before Rocky Aguko had to be stretchered off with a nasty looking leg injury. There was a long stoppage to the match due to an ill-equipped ambulance but once the game resume
KCB’s Isaac Njoroge vies for the ball with Kabras Sugar’s Derrick Ashiundu during the Kenya Cup final at the Nandi Bears CLub on September 4, 2021.
In the second half, KCB gave in a fight, knowing they had 40 minutes to turn the game around and extend their Kenya Cup dominance. Jacob Ojee went over the chalk on the left after an offload from Vincent Onyala who dummied past two markers before spraying the ball out wide.
Mukidza then booted home a penalty, slicing the posts for a 20-8 coreline. Kabras however stretched the lead when they capitalized on KCB skipper Andrew Amonde’s trip to the sin bin.
Valerian Tendwa ran into Kubu’s clever kick to burry the ball home for a 25-8 lead.
But KCB didn’t lose their heads and kept the fight. Mukidza narrowed down the lead once again before AMonde came back from the bin to take the scores to 25-18, Mukidza converting his try.
At the death, KCB completed the turnaround when Onyala went over after a quick start to a set piece inside the Kabras 22. Olindi converted to send the game to sudden death.
Kabras had a chance to win it, but Dukisa could not convert from a penalty. The bankers, breathing a collective sigh of relief kept their belief and when they won a penalty, Mukidza’s boots stepped forward to deliver the Kenya Cup title.
