Boca Junior Malaba and Lakeview from Samia booked slots for Sunday’s semi-finals after ending their preliminary matches with an unbeaten record on Saturday.
Boca Junior won their second match after beating Angorom United1-0 at St. Joseph’s Kocholia Secondary School grounds with Yoram Etyang scoring the lone goal in the first half.
In their last preliminary match at the same venue, Boca, cheered on by their enthusiastic supporters, beat Boca Junior Bunyala 3-0 to enter the cash-winning bracket.
Tyson Karani put Boca Junior into the lead in the 28th minute with a clinical finish. Kelvin Otieno added the second goal a minute later to take a 2-0 lead at halftime before Evans Ilanyi completed the route in the 68th minute.
On day one of the extravaganza on Friday at Moding Primary School, Boca Junior was held to a 1-1 draw by Katakwa. They have ended the preliminaries with seven points from three matches.
Boca Junior will now meet Pool A runners-up Angorom in Sunday’s semi-final at Kiriko Primary School, starting 8.30 am.
Lakeview also secured a place in the semi-finals, topping their group with a whopping nine points. They were 3-2 winners over Rwatama at Kokare Primary School grounds.
In their second game at the same venue, they beat Kamolo 3-2 to complete their preliminary matches with a clean sheet. They had thrashed Amukura 4-1 in the first match.
Lakeview will now meet Amukura in the semi-finals on Sunday at Kamolo Primary School starting at 8.30 am.
Amukura survived elimination by a whisker when they beat Kamolo 2-1 before drawing 1-1 with Rwatama. They had lost 1-4 to Lakeview on four points.
The finals on Sunday will be graced by Football Kenya Federation President Hussein Mohammed, his deputy McDonald Mariga, sponsor Humphrey Ekirapa and other invited guests.
Boca Bunyala coach Joseph Wandera regretted the officiating standard that saw his team exit the competition, urging the federation to restore sanity of the game.
His counterpart, Benard Omonya, disputed claims by the Bunyala club saying they trained for the mini-league to justify their 3-0 victory, exuding confidence of winning the trophy
Former Teso North KFF chairman Moses Imai, who graced the match at St. Joseph’s Kocholia Secondary, said the long-awaited mini-league is so lucrative in a way they have seen sponsors coming especially.
” There are improvements in talents that need improvement next time. In order to attract a big fanbase, let the fans own the game. The federation should do more to restore parity that may have been lacking in the previous regime”, he explained.
By Absalom Namwalo
