Kenya Harlequins kicked off their Kenya Cup campaign with a resounding 55-22 victory over Mwamba RFC at RFUEA Grounds on Saturday.
Mwamba struck first, scoring an early try that was converted to take a 7-0 lead. It took Quins 16 minutes to respond, with captain Sheldon Kahi crossing the try line, and Allan Odiyo adding the extras to level the scores at 7-7.
Kenya Harlequin concede early on
Mwamba regained the lead in the 26th minute when Ishmael Mokaya sliced through Quins’ defence, with Dennis Ndayala converting to make it 14-7. Quins, however, clawed their way back into the game. Paul Matani scored just before the half-hour mark, and Charles Kinyanjui added another try in the 34th minute to give Quins a narrow 17-14 lead at halftime.
After the break, Harlequins found their rhythm, delivering a dominant second-half performance. Prop Mike Mugo scored in the opening minute of the half to extend the lead to 22-14. Charlton Mokua added another try in the 47th minute, converted by Evin Asena, pushing the score to 29-14.
Lock Ben Onyango joined the scoring spree, and Asena’s conversion took Quins into the 30s. Mwamba’s struggles were compounded when their scrum-half was shown a yellow card, leaving them down a man for 10 minutes. During this period, Quins’ winger Leonard Fogang capitalized with a try, also converted, to stretch the lead to 41-14.
Mwamba managed to trim the deficit with a try, but Quins quickly responded. Mokua scored again, with his try converted, before Leon Nyang added the final touch at the stroke of full-time, sealing an emphatic 55-22 victory.
The win sets a strong tone for Quins in the new season, while Mwamba will look to bounce back in their next fixture.