NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 10 – Busia County have stormed into the final of the inaugural Talanta Hela Under-19 tournament national finals after seeing off Homabay 5-0 in the first semi-final at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday morning.
Busia emerged winners in the battle of familiar faces, the two having clashed in the play-off tournament in Nyeri three weeks ago, though the match was rained off at halftime with the sides locked in a 1-1 draw.
In the nationals though, Busia have shown their resilience and wit, to storm into the final, and now await the winner of the second semi which has been delayed.
Diana Anyango was the star of the Busia side as she scored twice, netting in the 48th, 66th and 77th minutes, the latter being from the penalty spot.
She also laid an assist for skipper Lornah Faith for her goal in the 63rd minute.
Busia had gone to the breather with a slim 1-0 lead, Christine Andati finishing off from a Joy Angela Valencia assist, the latter also providing the killer pass for Busia’s second goal three minutes after the restart.
“I am pleased that we have made the final. This was our target to get to the final. We didn’t expect such an easy match from Homabay. We didn’t expect them to play this way. Mentally we were very strong and well prepared for this game. But, we didn’t face much competition,” said the coach.
On the final, he said; “We are ready for any opponent. We will prepare and our target is to win the title.”
The second semi-final, initially between Kisumu and Uasin Gishu was yet to start due to a tussle over player ineligibility. Kakamega had presented a case protesting on the eligibility of one of the Kisumu players after they lost in the quarters.
The case was admitted and Kakamega initially won the appeal, but the same was overturned in the morning, leading to three teams presenting themselves for the final at the Utalii Grounds Sunday morning.
