St. Joseph starlets continued with their winning streak this weekend after beating Brighter Queens of Nyeri 2-1 in the finals to qualify to play in the Division 1 in a match played at Don Bosco Grounds.
St. Joseph Starlets qualified for the playoffs after winning the Murang’a FKF County league. They then proceeded and won Murang’a County Chapa Dimba tournament in August, where they thrashed Mugumo Dragoness 6-0. A week later, St. Joseph thrashed Barcelona Rising Starlets 5-1 to clinch the championship for the Safaricom Chapa Dimba Central Region girls at Wang’uru Stadium and qualify for the nationals, which will be played next year.
St. Joseph Starlets started well by scoring 2 goals in the first half of the game, where they dominated their opponents in both attacking and defending. In the first minutes of the second half, Brighter Queens managed to pull one back from a counterattack, hence keeping alive their dreams of equalizing the score. St. Joseph Starlets managed to defend their opponents well who seemed to be attacking too much in the second half.
In the semi-finals, Unity Homes of Kiambu lost 1-0 to Brighter Queens, enabling Brighter Queens to qualify for the finals. In the other semifinal, St. Joseph thrashed Ngatchez Fc 7-1.
Brighter Queen’s captain Owino Papsi said that the team played very well only that luck was not on their side. She also said that St. Joseph didn’t outplay them since they were better in the first half but the Brighter Queens adjusted their level in the second half, adding that they accept the results as a team and they now go back to the drawing table to prepare again.
“I wouldn’t say we made major mistakes. They deserved the win and we accept the results,” the captain added. “We will review the mistakes when we go back to the drawing board and work on improving,” she stated.
Fatuma Bensuda, captain of St. Joseph’s starlets, said the team followed the coach’s strategy and instructions. She credited their win to hard work and consistent training, which made them come to the field well prepared to face their opponents.
“I can say it all comes down to hard work. During the school games, we worked hard to earn the chance to represent Murang’a. We progressed to the regional competitions. We wanted to qualify for the national championships but we did manage.”
She also thanked her teammates for their hard-work for they were outstanding as they worked together and played as a team.
St Joseph starlets’ Coach Geoffrey Musyoki said that the team came for the competition prepared to win. He added that in season one they fought to qualify for division one but they didn’t manage after losing to a team from Kirinyaga County. The coach said they had only one mission and it was to earn promotion, which was the goal they had set when the league started.
“If you watched our matches you will see that the players understood exactly what we wanted to do on the pitch. Every game we play is like a final to us because we want to achieve our goals” Coach Musyoki added,.
By Joshua Kyalo
