- Menengai High School has qualified for the KSSSA semi-finals after Rift Valley champions Tenwek High School were disqualified over age-cheating allegations.
- Kakamega High School has topped Group B with a perfect nine points, setting up a semi-final showdown against underdogs Menengai in Thika.
- The tournament has guaranteed a new national champion after defending title holders St Joseph’s Boys High School were eliminated at the Trans Nzoia County games.
Late entrants Menengai High School, will be out to prove why they belong among Kenya’s football elite when they face record 12-time champions Kakamega High School in the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) National Term Two Games boys’ semi-final at M-Pesa Foundation Academy in Thika, Kiambu County.
Menengai only made it to the national championships after Rift Valley champions Tenwek High School were disqualified over age-cheating allegations, but coach Peter Wekesa believes his side can stun the favourites and book a place in the final.
Four schools will battle for a final spot at the KSSSA National Term Two Games boys’ football, with the tournament guaranteed a new champion after defending title holders St Joseph’s Boys High School were eliminated during the Trans Nzoia County games.
Kakamega reached the semi-finals after topping Group B with a perfect nine points from three matches, while in Group A, Menengai, St Mary’s Yala and Highway Secondary School all finished level on six points, with Highway missing out on the semis on the head-to-head rule.
“We have no pressure in that game, but we will surprise them because they are treating us as the underdogs. We are targeting a win so as also to qualify for the East Africa regional games,” said Wekesa. “Kakamega are giants, but we also have a pool of talent and options in all departments so we are ready for them,” he added.
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Menengai Chief Principal Noor Sheikh Ali has expressed confidence that the team can reach the final and end a 55-year wait for the national title, having last lifted the trophy in 1971.
The second boys’ semi-final will see St Mary’s Yala, who are chasing their maiden national title, take on surprise package Takaba Mixed Secondary School, the first team from the North Eastern Region to reach the national football semi-finals. Takaba finished second in Group B with six points, with Tumaini High School from the Eastern Region and hosts Baricho High School both eliminated at that stage.
St Mary’s Yala coach Kevin Oluoch remains optimistic about his side’s chances despite a 2-0 defeat to former champions Highway in their final group match. “Highway got their chances and used them well, and that has taught us a lesson that against Takaba we have to be at our best to win and reach the finals. We lost concentration at some point against Highway, and that is why we easily conceded,” said Oluoch.
Takaba, for their part, are determined to continue their fairytale run and become the first school from the North Eastern Region to win the national football title. “We are ready for Yala and our boys have shown that they can beat even the experienced sides. We know after performing well in the group, Yala will be alert, but we are ready for them,” said Senior Principal Abdikhalif Hassan Ibrahim, who also serves on the team’s technical bench.
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In the girls’ competition, Nyakach Girls High School will take on Raila Educational Centre in the first semi-final after sealing top spot in Group B with a commanding 20-0 victory over hosts Kiaritha High School. The second girls’ semi-final will pit former champions Archbishop Njenga Girls High School against St Joseph’s Girls High School, Kitale.
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