Kabete Stallions bounced back to winning ways with a 24-10 victory over Mean Machine in the Impala Floodlit Varsity category fifth-place semifinal played at the Impala Club on Saturday.
Both sides were desperate to recover from their quarterfinal defeats, Stallions having narrowly lost 28-25 to USIU Martials, while Machine fell 20-13 to Daystar Falcons.
The Stallions broke the deadlock in the 11th minute when back rower Fredrick Odhiambo powered over for the opening try, with Lawrence Ndung’u adding the extras for a 7-0 lead.
Machine responded in the 26th minute through prop James Oluoch, whose effort was converted by Gabriel Okello to level the scores at 7-7.
Kabete then regained control through their wingers, as Austin Barasa crossed on the left in the 31st minute before Joseph Litoro added another just before halftime to stretch the lead to 17-7.
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In the second half, Machine reduced the deficit early through a Gabriel Okello penalty to make it 17-10. Both sides were later reduced to 14 men after their inside centres were shown yellow cards, before Joshua Omondi sealed the win for Stallions with a late try that Morgan Situma converted for a 24-10 scoreline.
Despite picking up another yellow card late in the game, Kabete Stallions showed composure in defence to hold on and claim the victory.
