Jericho All Stars, TUK, Meltah Kabiria and Shauri Moyo Blue Stars unched their ticket into the semi-finals of the inaugural SportPesa Super 8 Champions League after registering wins in the respective quarter finals fixtures which were played on Sunday 23 October at a packed City Stadium, Nairobi.
It means that Jericho will clash with Shauri Moyo Blue Stars while TUK will lock horns with Meltah Kabiria in the semis next Sunday 30 October at City Stadium.
Jericho All Stars 5-4 Kayole Asubuhi
Jericho All Stars made it through after beating bitter rivals Kayole Asubuhi 5-4 in a nail-biting after match penalties following 0-0 draw in regulation time.
Tom Okoth, Mwangi Nduati, Brian Kasasi, Eddie Kuria and Eddie Otieno scored their penalties which guaranteed Jericho’s place in the last four while Kayole scored through Focus Onuka, Godwin Sematimba, Joel Mutua and Asumani Abdallah.
It was a hard earned win for Thomas Okongo’s Jericho who missed out on the Sps8 league title to Kayole last month. Jericho started the match quite brightly with most of their chances falling on Victor Walerah and Victor Valera but John Macharia stood firm in Kayole’s goal to deny both of them a chance.
On the other end, Asubuhi could not get past their opponents defence despite firing all their ammunition on Jericho’s goal forcing the match to end 0-0.
Kawangawre United 1-3 TUK
Before that, a brace from Evans Otieno in either halves of the game helped TUK keep alive their dream of silverware this season after edging 10-man Kawangaware United 3-1 to also make it to the last four of the competition.
After failing spectacularly at defending the SportPesa Super 8 Premier League last month, TUK began their champions league campaign on a sound note with Otieno grabbing the match opener as early as the 13th minute which was the difference in the first half.
Upon resumption, Kawangaware wasted a glorious chance when player-coach Francis Thairu failed to tap in a Samuel Gakuhia cross from the left flank despite being well positioned in front of goal.
Soon after, they were punished heavily in the 71st minute by Steven Odhiambo who buried home a neat low cross from Jeconiah Uyoga from the right wing for a 2-0 second half advantage that lasted for only eight minutes when Otieno successfully converted a spot kick after being hacked down within the box.
Kawangaware were then reduced to 10-men after Michael Otieno was shown red after failing to heed earlier warnings by centre ref Kevin Juma in the 86th minute. A minute later the Dagoretti outfit got a consolation through Daniel Muturi.
Metro Sports FC 3-4 Shauri Moyo Blue Stars
After playing to a dull barren stalemate, Shauri Moyo Blue Stars defeated Metro Sports FC 4-3 in the post-match spot kicks to also secure their slot in the East conference semis.
Brian Omondi, Memey Mohammed, David Bosire and Yusuf Zuberi did well in converting their penalty kicks for Blue Stars while Metro’s Michael Ochieng’, Boniface Oluoch, and Joseck Mulawe were perfect in their kicks.
In the match, Shauri Moyo had better chances of sealing the game in the first half with Wycliffe Maikara and Rahim Malik coming close but did quite find home.
The second half turned into a physical engagement with much of the action stagnating at the midfield with both sides unable to break the other forcing the tie to be decided on penalties.
Ajax FC 1-3 Meltah Kabiria
In the first match of the day, Melta Kabiria registered a convincing 3-1 win over Ajax FC to progress to the next stage.
Goals from Benard Kamau (36th minute), Joseph Omassaba (49’), Sammy Agesa (53’) ensured Melta secured the vital win after a brilliant performance that saw them dominate the match from the kick-off until the end of the match.
Ajax scored their only goal of the match through their dependable forward Bedan Kagali in the 81st minute.
FULL RESULTS
Ajax FC 1-3 Meltah Kabiria
Metro Sports FC 3-4 Shauri Moyo Blue Stars
Kawangawre United 1-3 TUK
Jericho All Stars 5-4 Kayole Asubuhi
#Sps8ChampionsLeague #WakilishaMtaaYako
