Jericho showed class to clinch their first Super 8 League title at their third attempt after thumping Rongai All Stars 7-0 in a one sided encounter on Sunday 7 October at Camp Toyoyo grounds
The deserved victory saw the East Conference side, under former Harambee Stars coach James Nandwa garner an unattainable 64 points atop the 16-team standings from 19 wins an 7 draws with two matches to spare.
Jericho are now assured of a cool half a million shillings in prize award on top of a glittering trophy and medals all courtesy of professional sports management firm Extreme Sports who are the organizers of the successful grass root league.
With the title done and dusted, it means TUK 1-0 winners over NYSA will now be contending against Makadara Junior League SA who drew 1-1 against basement side Kayole Asubuhi for a second place finish which comes with a quarter million shillings while third place will walk home one hundred thousand shillings richer.
“I am proud of the whole team this season, the consistency and determination has paid fruits. As a coach this title means a lot to me; it’s a way of giving back to the Jericho community who have been supportive of this team.”Said coach Nandwa after the redemptive title triumph that ends a painful two-year jinx of missing the title by a slim margin.
Overcoming obstacles all season long, Jericho were not to be denied by Rongai who were completely outshined by Kelvin Ndung’u, Victor Walerah and Bundu Engo, all scoring twice each while defender Eddie Otieno also hit the mark to kick-start the title celebrations.
Engo gave Jericho the lead with a 13th minute opener from close range before setting up Ndung’u for the second goal shortly after four minutes.
Walerah connected to an inviting cross from Engo to head home Jericho’s third (25’) and his 16th of the season.
Defender Eddie Otieno struck the fourth on the 32nd minute before Engo completed his brace two minutes later by nodding into an empty net for 5-0 first half lead.
Walerah was on target for his 11th goal of the season three minutes into the second period as Jericho bossed the proceedings. Ndung’u delivered the coup de grace on the 70th minute pushing his tally to 23 goals at the top of the scoring ranks.
Having missed the 2016 title by a mere one point to eventual winners Kayole Asubuhi and finishing fifth last term, Jericho picked valuable lessons from these misfortunes and used it as fuel to propel them to their crown according to their top scorer Kelvin Ndung’u.
The defeat was a hard landing for Rongai who drop to 11th on 31 points.
“It was a tough game, we panicked in the first half, lost concentration and got punished for it .If we could have played according to the coaches instructions I believe the outcome would have been different. It has been a challenging season for us but we hope to fight till the end.” Elisha Dylian captain of Rongai said after the heavy defeat.
By dethroning West Conference side Kawangware United, Jericho becomes the second East Conference side to win the league after Kayole Asubuhi’s success in 2016.
FULL ROUND 28 RESULTS
Makadara Junior League SA 1-1 Kayole Asubuhi
Sunday 7 October
Jericho All Stars 7-0 Rongai All Stars
Metro Sports 1-0 Shauri Moyo Blue Stars
TUK 1-0 NYSA
RYSA 1-0 Meltah Kabiria
Team Umeme 0-0 Zamalek
Leads United 3-2 Shauri Moyo Sportiff
MASA VS Kawangware United (w/o)
