Coach Okwemba eyes turn-around with Koyonzo after County slump

Koyonzo Secondary School rugby sevens head coach Eliud Okwemba has promised a comeback at the Western Region Secondary Schools Ball Games after failing to defend their county title.

Okwemba has rued overconfidence amongst his players and poor defending as the reasons for their loss against St. Peter’s Mumias Boys High School in the semi-final.

St. Peter’s took advantage of Koyonzo’s poor concentration in their backline to stun them 14-10 in a thrilling semi-final clash, and book a final’s date with the newly crowned Kakamega County champions Kakamega High School.

The Stormers enjoyed a fine run last year, going all the way to the East Africa Secondary Schools games and bagging the title without losing a single match to their Kenyan counterparts.

But a defeat to St. Peter’s Mumias must have been a perfect revenge for the Mumias-based side after Koyonzo thumped them 21-10 in last year's Kakamega County final.

“Overconfidence was our main undoing. My boys forgot that we have to deal with the competition at the lower level before we can get to the regionals and nationals. It is something that if we don’t tame will cost us,” said Okwemba.

“St. Peters prepared well for the game, displayed a good game and punished us for our errors in defending. We are working on that to ensure that we are perfect during the regional school games,” he added.

Okwemba said they are in the process of re-building following the departure of most of their players from their title-winning squad, leaving them with just two players.

They are; Eric Simiyu and Kevin Maicho, who are pivotal in their quest to win their third successive title, although Simiyu remains sidelined after sustaining an injury.

“We have a new squad and we are almost getting to the level we want. We are working around the clock to ensure that they are in the best shape, and we are confident we shall reign supreme in the Western Region School Games.”

Okwemba is keen to outwit other regional giants like Kakamega High School, Butula and last year's runners-up Vihiga High School to retain their title.

Kakamega, 2013 national champions, trounced St. Peter’s Mumias 12-5 to bag the Kakamega County title, while Vihiga stunned Senende 22-0 to retain the Vihiga County title.

Butula, Busia County's heavyweights, will have to wait after Busia County’s rugby sevens matches were postponed to a later date.