Young Ghetto Football Club are the Mountain Region champions in the Guinness Night football champions after defeating Wazoefu Football Club at the regional event held in Machakos.
Jones Mwanzia, The Young Ghetto FC striker scored the lone goal in the second half to ensure the Machakos outfit were crowned champions of the Mountain region tournament. This was after a grueling scoreless first half where both teams were on each other’s half in search of the crucial goals.
Enroute to the final, The Young Ghetto FC defeated Mawa FC two goals to nil in the knock-out phase, they then defeated Burning City FC one goal to nil in the quarter finals. In the Semi-final they triumphed two goals to one against the resilient Machakos Youth Football Club.
In the 3rd place play-offs, W.I Football Club led by Innocent Mutiso defeated Machakos Youth Football Club three goals to two during a penalty shoot-out. This was after the two teams drew two all in normal regulation time. Innocent Mutiso scored the first goal for W.I FC. Machakos Youth FC then equalized through Stephanie Wangare. Allan Omondi from Machakos Youth FC scored the second goal but it was disallowed due to infringement in the penalty box.
Anthony Kimani from W.I FC scored the second goal in the second half. The team had confidence they would hold on to their lead only for Yusuf Mohammed to equalize in the dying minutes for Machakos Youth FC which brought out wild cheers from the fans.
Yusuf Mohammed could not replicate the success during the spot-kicks as he lost his penalty against W.I goalkeeper Isaiah Owago. Denis Kyengo from W.I FC converted the last spot-kick to ensure his team got into the podium finish as the second runners up.
Each match was played for 20 minutes with each half being 10 minutes.
The winners walked away with Ksh. 50,000, while the first runners up won Ksh. 20,000 in the regional finals.
The 12-week campaign dubbed Guinness Night Football aims to give consumers an opportunity to represent Kenya in a pan-African tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. It is an initiative of Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL), Guinness and Diageo. The campaign encourages football fans to either participate for a chance to win or watch for their love of football.
The winning team from Kenya will represent the country alongside a team from Uganda and host Nigeria. The three teams from the three countries will battle it out for the ultimate crown and the winner will face off with Rio Ferdinand’s celebrity team. The games will be aired live on DSTV.
The first regional tournament was hosted in the Lakes region where Stream Football Club emerged winners after defeating Kotoko Football Club.
Guinness Night football mountain region scores
KNOCK-OUT
- Heroes Football Club 1 VS 4 Machakos University Staff
- Machakos University Ladies 0 VS 3 W.I Football Club
- Wazoefu Football Club 1 VS 0 Maruti Football Club
- Jua Kali Football Club 1 VS 1 Machakos Main University FC (Jua Kali win 3 – 1 penalties)
- West Pokot 5 VS 1 Burning City
- Young Ghetto FC 2 VS 0 Mawa FC
- Katoloni FC 1 VS 2 Machakos Youth FC
- Jambo FC 2 VS 0 Maveto FC
QUARTER FINALS
- W.I FC 2 VS 1 Machakos University Staff FC
- Wazoefu FC 2 VS 1 Jua Kali FC
- Burning City FC 0 VS 1 Young Ghetto FC
- Jambo FC 2 VS 2 Machakos Youth FC
SEMI-FINALS
- W.I FC 0 VS 2 Wazoefu FC
- Young Ghetto FC 2 VS 1 Machakos Youth FC
- 3RD PLACE PLAY-OFFS
- W.I FC 2 VS 1 Machakos Youth FC
FINALS
- Young Ghetto FC 1 VS 0 Wazoefu FC