Wasteful Oilers rue missed chances as KCB pounce to book Kenya Cup final against Kabras

With around six minutes or less left on the clock, Menengai Oilers trailed KCB RFC 14-12 at the packed KCB Sports Club on Saturday afternoon.

In the semifinal game that had been played on edge for all of the 74 minutes that had preceded, the clash finally seemed to have gotten a match-winning moment when Gibson Weru’s Oilers got a penalty kick awarded to them.

In that moment, everything that Oilers had erred in doing - including missing two other crucial penalty kicks and failing to capitalize on their possession and territorial dominance, especially in the first half – seemed as if it would not matter anymore.

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Substitute Tony Oketch stepped up and positioned the kicking tee right in front of the posts and took in a deep gulp of breath.

KCB’s technical bench, players and fans held their breaths as the other Oilers half murmured with hope.

Oketch, donning black stretchers underneath his shorts, looked up, then down, then up again before finally closing in on the ball with a strike that left the KCB unit with the very first moment of relief throughout the match as the ball veered to the left and missed the upright.

The job had been done now and all that remained was to just see out the lead.

It happened that Bob Muhati managed to sneak in a late try right at the end after Oilers shot themselves in the foot once again as they lost the lineout which KCB made them to pay.

That was the story of the game as all of Oilers missed chance came to haunt them with KCB booking a spot in the final with a 21-12 fulltime score after Michael Wamalwa successfully converted Muhati’s try.

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“The game was there for the taking and when you play a championship side, you have to seize your moments and make sure to capitalize on them. At crucial times we made critical errors that we should have managed differently.

We got penalties that I feel should have players who convert them at this level. I knew the game would boil down to set pieces and the lineouts were crucial. We gave them trouble but we missed two crucial ones and they were the point of difference,” a disappointed Weru told SportPesa News after the match.

In the game, Darwin Mukidza kicked KCB ahead with a after just five minutes but two Abutwalib Wesonga penalties saw Oilers go 6-3 up in what was an arm wrestle of a match.

Vincent Onyala, on as an injury replacement, then scored for KCB at the stroke of halftime very much against the run of play as Oilers failed to boot the ball out, his effort giving the hosts an 8-6 lead at the break.

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The second half remained tentative, the tension palpable on the pitch and in the bleachers as both sides continued to prod each other, Mukidza and Wesonga trading two penalties apiece as KCB led 14-12 before eventually surviving the late scare that saw them book another trip to the Kenya Cup final.

The Bankers will face off against back-to-back champions Kabras Sugar who beat Nondies 37-9 in the other semifinal played in Kakamega.

The 23/24 Kenya Cup final will be played in Kakamega on Saturday 6 April.

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