Karabondi FC, alias the Dark Horse, has been named the Homa Bay County champions after beating the home team, Mbita High School, 1-0 in a hard-fought match played on Sunday at the Wakiaga Polytechnic Grounds. Karabondi secured their win with a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, taken by Brian Odhiambo after Mbita’s defender Isaac Elshadai handled the ball in the box.
In Migori County, Awendo Academy knocked out Kangeso FC 4-2 on penalties to be crowned the county finals. This was after the two teams went on a draw at full time, leading the match to a penalty shootout.
In other matches, it proved to be a challenging day for the Alara Girls from Karachuonyo, who endured a substantial 2-0 defeat against their challengers, Ogande Girls. Mercy Amuomo made her mark by opening the scoring sheet in the 9th minute after receiving a cross from Julin Zena. She doubled the score in the 77th minute, propelling Ogande Girls into the lead. Today’s brace brought her total goals scored in the tournament to eight, earning her the title of top scorer, which she tied with her teammate, Joy Marvelous. She also emerged as the Most Valuable Player, winning a prize of KES. 10,000, including a TVET Scholarship courtesy of the Safaricom Foundation.
In Migori County, Agenga Girls thrashed Awendo Queens 6-0 to claim the county championship title in the Girls’ category. Selphar Lugaye scored a hat trick, while Eunice Akinyi netted a brace, and Christine Akeyo scored one goal.
The winning teams in both the boys’ and girls’ categories each took home KES 75,000, while the runners-up each received KES 30,000. Top scorers and the Best Goalkeepers from both the boys’ and girls’ teams each received KES 10,000, with the Most Valuable Players (MVP) taking home KES 10,000, plus an additional TVET scholarship to pursue a course of their choice, courtesy of Safaricom and M-PESA Foundations.
All twelve county winners (six boys’ teams and six girls’ teams) from the six counties of the Nyanza region will participate in the inter-county playoffs scheduled for next week. Eight teams (four boys’ and four girls’ teams) will then proceed to the regional finals, which are set for September 30th to October 1st in Kisumu.