Escalators clinch Dagoretti's tournament top prize

Escalators from Kawangware in Dagoretti south constituency are the first champions of the area tournament organized by a gaming firm after edging out Fifa Best 1-0 on Sunday evening at BP Grounds in Riruta.

In the third-place play-off, Leeds FC defeated Bundez FC 3-0 in a post-match penalty after a scoreless draw in ninety minutes.

The champions, Escalators which comprised mostly of raw talented footballers from Dagoreti showed maturity in the entire game despite getting few chances to score due to the strong defense of the opposite team Fifa best which was manned by captain Wellington Ochieng’ who is turning out for Kenyan Premier League side Tusker.

They however pulled it in the 20th minute of the second half. Fifa Best would score in the dying minutes of the match but the centre referee ruled it out for offside and the game ended 1-0 in favour of Escalators who came into the final as underdogs.

They pocketed Sh150,000 from the event organizers while Fifa Best took home Sh100,000. Leads, who were number three got Sh75,000 as Bundos received Sh50,000.

Timothy Wamalwa the event coordinator said that Kenya has great talented footballers who need to be given support to help generate good revenue for the country as it is happening in England, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon and Egypt just but to mention a few African countries.

Wamalwa said that as an organization they will now embark on organizing nationwide grassroots football events to give room for scouts to have time to select some of the best soccer superstars in the making.

"We next plan to start with Mathare slams before moving to up country,” Wamalwa said.

The Dagoretti extravaganza brought together 75 clubs who were battling out for the prize money and the trophy.

The former Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi who was the chief guest said that it was high time to streamline football in Kenya because it has employed many youths across Kenya.