Strathmore Leos beat Catholic Monks 49-31 in a Kenya Cup Match played at Strathmore University grounds.
Strathmore Leos were first to score and it was after a brilliant solo effort by their right winger who beat his markers right from the 50m mark to dash and score in the corner. Moments later, the Leos were penalised for not releasing and Monks fly-half Sammy Omollo stepped up to give his side first points of the match with a well struck penalty goal.
The Leos scored their second try through wing Andrew Matoka after a quick string of passes from their backs found the former Kenya U20 hero in space and he touched down in the corner. Matoka converted his own try to give his side a 12-3 lead.
Catholic Monks then responded with a try minutes later thanks to a lapse in concentration from Strathmore’s defence. Monks’ half-back quickly tapped the ball before passing to one of his forwards who burrowed over to score. Sammy Omollo converted the try to cut the deficit to 12-10.
Just on the stroke of halftime, Leos extended their lead through their right winger, who swirled around his defenders again before sprinting to score his team’s third try much to the delight of their home fans.
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Early on in the second half, it was a battle of boots between Sammy Omollo of Monks and Andrew Matoka of Leos. Sammy Omollo was first to slot in a penalty after Strathmore infringed at a scrum but Matoka Matoka would respond with two successful back-to-back penalty goals including a near 50m penalty to take the scores to 25-16.
Strathmore Leos’ lock would then go from hero to zero when he scored to give his side a solid 30-16 lead but then seconds later was shown a red card for poor sportsmanship. Matoka successfully converted the try for a 32-16 score.
With Strathmore Leos being one man less, the visitors capitalised by scoring two quick tries through their right winger. Conversion attempts on the tries by Sammy Omollo were unsuccessful.
Andrew Matoka was again on target when he scored a penalty to give his side a 35-26 lead but Monks’ would cut the deficit minutes later when their right winger scored his third try of the game. The conversion attempt again by Sammy Omollo was unsuccessful.
With scores reading 35-31 and with less than 10 minutes to play, Monks’ were almost pulling a remarkable come-from-behind win but their comeback hopes were dealt a major blow as Strathmore Leos scored two quick tries late in the game to seal it off with a 49-31 win.
