Blad Lead Teams To Driftwood Cup Quarters
The cup quarterfinal pairings at the Driftwood Sevens are now known following completion of the preliminary round matches in each of the four pools on Saturday.
Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad upset the Pool A pecking order, reaching the last eight after posting three straight wins to top the pool, condemning reigning series champions Top Fry Nakuru to the bowl as Resolution Impala Saracens qualified second.
Menengai Cream Homeboyz continued their dominance over KCB this season, posting a third successive shut out over three tournaments, winning the last clash 14-0 to top Pool B. KCB, who are yet to score against the deejays, and who have conceded 55 points in three previous games against the deejays, finished second in the pool and sailed to the last eight.
The Strathmore Leos confirmed first place in Pool C with a comprehensive 27-0 win over Mwamba.
A Brian Tanga inspired Kabras Sugar were business-like in Pool D action, topping Kenya Harlequin 19-12 to win the pool, Quins made the last eight by way of second place in the pool.
Blad through to cup quarters
Blak Blad reached the cup quarters with a game to spare, stunning Top Fry Nakuru 14-7 as the second round of matches took off.It was a frenetic first half, Moses Begi and Franz Obudo touching down with converted tries for Blad, Nakuru responding with a converted try from Kelvin Kioko.
Nakuru were frantic in the second half, desperately chasing the game as Blad remained calm and assured on defense, sailing through to their first cup quarterfinal of the season.
Nakuru were left with a must win clash against Resolution Impala Saracens to reach the cup quarters.
Blad Stun Impala
Blak Blad pulled off the day’s first upset at the Driftwood Sevens, defeating joint National Sevens Series leaders Resolution Impala Saracens 14-10 in the opening fixture.
It was the Sarries who raced to a 10-0 lead through tries from Lameck Dunde and George Okowa before Andrew Gathua scored and converted his own try for a 10-7 score at the break.
The game ebbed and flowed in the second half, a string of handling errors bogging down the Sarries whose lead was continuously looking precarious. Franz Obudo would split open the Sarries defense with his evasive running, touching down with Gathua converting for the full time score.
The rest of the big guns were untroubled, Homeboyz, Quins, Strathmore, Mwamba, KCB, Kabras and Nakuru all posting routine wins to set up platforms for cup quarterfinal qualification.
Quarterfinal Pairings
Bowl
9:00 AM Top Fry Nakuru vs Daystar Falcons
9:20 AM Mean Machine vs Mombasa
9:40 AM Kisumu vs Makueni
10:00AM Resolution Kisii vs Menengai Oilers
Cup
10:20AM Blak Blad vs Kenya Harlequins
10:40AM Strathmore Leos vs KCB
11:00AM Kabras Sugar vs Resolution Impala Saracens
11:20AM Menengai Cream Homeboyz vs Mwamba
Collated Day One Results
Resolution Impala Saracens 10 Blak Blad 14
Top Fry Nakuru 19 Makueni 7
Menengai Cream Homeboyz 24 Resolution Kisii 0
KCB 39 Mombasa 5
Strathmore Leos 21 Menengai Oilers 7
Mwamba 22 Mean Machine 5
Kenya Harlequin 46 Daystar 0
Resolution Impala 46 Makueni 0
Blak Blad 14 Top Fry Nakuru 7
Menengai Cream Homeboyz 40 Mombasa 0
KCB 12 Resolution Kisii 0
Strathmore Los 17 Mean Machine 7
Mwamba 14 Menengai Oilers 0
Quins 19 Kisumu 0
Kabras 35 Daystar 0
Blad 17 Makueni 5
Kisii 22 Mombasa 5
Oilers 19 Machine 7
Daystar 14 Kisumu 17
Impala Saracens 10 Top Nakuru 5
Menengai Cream Homeboyz 14 KCB 0
Strathmore Leos 27 Mwamba 0
Quins 12 Kabras 19
Blad Ruffle Feathers
Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad came into the Driftwood Sevens keen on upsetting the pecking order, and at the close of day one business, they achieved success, doing exactly what they set out to do.
Blad topped Pool A and sailed to the cup quarterfinals with a 100% record by way of upset wins over Resolution Impala Saracens (10-14) and Top Fry Nakuru (7-14) before seeing off a plucky Makueni outfit 17-5.
They will play Kenya Harlequin in the cup quarterfinal on Sunday morning
Wanyore Consigned To Driftwood Bowl
Reigning National Sevens Series champions Top Fry Nakuru will play in the bowl quarterfinals at the Driftwood Sevens after finishing third in Pool A at the Mombasa Sports Club.
The Wanyore started their campaign with a 19-7 win over Makueni before successive losses to Blak Blad (7-14) and Resolution Impala Saracens (5-10) condemned them to the bowl.
With this result, the Wanyore have lost ground in their quest for a successive NSS title defense and will be hard pressed to turn it all around when the series resumes with the Dala Sevens in Kisumu on 3 September.
Nondies Stay In Hunt For Div 1 Return
Nondescripts kept up their challenge for a return to the National Sevens Series division one, reaching the cup quarterfinals in division two action at the Driftwood Sevens at the Mombasa Sports Club on Saturday.
The red lion set up a date with JKUAT Cougars after being ranked second overall at the close of the preliminary round of action.
Backed by a sprinkling of talent in the form of Brian Beckham and Ishmael Mokaya as wel as the leadership and experience of former Kenya Sevens stalwart Ben Nyambu, Nondies will have to overcome JKUAT and deal with the attentions of sides such as Masaku and the Catholic Monks if they are keen on making a return to top tier sevens action at the fourth round in Kisumu on 3 September.
DIV TWO, DAY TWO PAIRINGS
PITCH A
SPEAR
8:00AM TUM vs SC Pirates (Walk Over)
8:20AM Pwani Uni vs Zetech (Walk Over)
8:40AM Shepherds vs Stormers
9:00AM C. Raiders vs Spartans (Walk Over)
PITCH B
BOWL QUARTERS
8:00AM C. Kisumu vs Malindi
8:20AM MKU Nairobi vs Kiambu
8:40AM TUK vs Eastlanders
9:00AM Brumbies vs Mombasa II
MAIN CUP QUARTERS
9:20AM Masaku vs KCA
9:40AM JKUAT vs Nondies
10:00AM Nanyuki Jackals vs Comras
10:20AM Catholic vs MKU Thika
Related Posts
« Coetzee happy with composure in Springboks opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship win SA Schools team secures whitewash in U19 Series »
