NAIROBI, Kenya, January 13, 2025 – South Coast Pirates head coach Kevin Amiani is confident they can survive relegation despite a tough debut season in the Kenya Cup.
Amiani insists they will fight all the way to the last match to sure their topflight status.
“They (players) just need to keep their head up. The fight is still on…there are still possibilities and there is a way we can still survive in Kenya Cup. Next weekend, we are playing at home and that’s an opportunity to rebuild, win and come back better,” he said.
The Diani-based side secured their berth in the Kenya Cup courtesy of a 30-15 victory over Daystar University Falcons in March last year.
They then put the icing on the cake with a 16-14 win over Impala RFC, a month later, to clinch their maiden Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Championships at the Seacrest Grounds in Diani.
However, their newbies have been fed with a dose of bitter reality in the top flight, losing 88-05 to giants Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) in their first match.
This was followed by a 45-3 loss to defending champions Kabras Sugar before falling 30-22 to Impala RFC.
Their latest loss was to Kisumu RFC at the Mamboleo Stadium on Saturday, the lakeside team winning 38-9.
Amiani believes they would have won the match had it not been for a hectic travel schedule.
“It is a result we were not expecting…we were expecting to come and pick points at least but we had a long journey coming here. I think we spent 27 hours coming here; we left on Thursday, 4 p.m. and arrived here yesterday (Friday), 10 pm. So, my players were fatigued…you could see in the first half they were very competitive and then in the second half, that’s when the fatigue checked in,” the coach said.
Nonetheless, he congratulated Kisumu for a game-well-played, noting that their opponents were determined to honour the memory of their late chair, Fidel Odinga.
“I think they deserved to win…this event, I think it meant a lot to them and they were determined to win because they were honouring their late chairman. I am wishing them well for the rest of their remaining matches,” Amiani said.
The coasterians welcome Strathmore University Leos in their next match in Diani on Saturday.
The students lost 45-5 to Kabras Sugar at the Madaraka Grounds on Saturday.
