No rest for KISPED as crunch promotion tie beckons

KISPED Queens FC have a chance to rectify last season’s promotion upset when they face Kayole Starlet FC in Nairobi on Saturday at the Dandora Stadium.

KISPED, who endured a 1-0 penultimate league loss to eventual Super League Zone B champions Soccer Assassins last season, will take on Starlet, for the only promotion slot remaining ahead of the 2024/25 FKF Women’s Premier League.

The side, coached by Daniel Minjis and Leah Kigame, took a long look at itself after last season’s heartbreak, and realized where they had gone wrong, immediately putting a few plans into action.

Team Manager and former Kisumu All Starlets center-back Winnie Okello reveals what they had to change within the squad to make it work this time.

“The team was so close to getting a promotion slot last season but we had overlooked certain things. Most of the team members, although experienced, couldn’t cope with a few demands of the league. We began by reinforcing some departments which, when we look back, have paid back handsomely,’’ she says.

KISPED, a team sponsored by Kisumu Peer Educators, brought in three key members for the just concluded 2023/24 Super League season.

Linda Okoside, came in a little late- midway through the season, and got in on the scoresheet every chance she got, even bagging a hat-trick along the way.

With a six goal haul for the second leg, the team’s hopes of securing goals upfront rest on her shoulders.

Okello’s technical bench also saw the need to bolster their defensive ranks with the shipping in of goalkeeper Willy Nilly from Gaspo.

A trip to school footballing giants Koballa Girls handed them defender Redempter Mercy, who is yet to even finish her final year exams.

She has however, been availed to the side for the crucial contest.

“We thank God that all the players came back fit and with no injuries after a short break. Training has been focused on just the one match, and as for the approach to the game, that stays with the coach. Understanding the magnitude of the clash, we all have faith that the right approach will be employed for the game. The girls deserve premier league football,’’ Okello, who spent four years in the premier league with Kisumu All Starlets, adds.

In Zone A, Starlet finished second to Mombasa Olympic, who will play Zone B leaders Kisumu All Starlets for the ultimate prize- overall winners of the Women’s Super League.

Okello terms this contest between them and Starlet a final.

Promotion at stake as Kayole Starlets readies for KISPED clash

“We are no longer playing home and away. It’s just one match and that’s it. So the girls will take it as a final. They have wanted premier league football for a while now, and it will be rewarding to see them achieve this,’’ she says.

A win in the contest will, on a large scale, indicate something huge for the lakeside city of Kisumu, where both KISPED and Kisumu All Starlets hail from.

Starlets’ relegation from the premier league in the 2022/23 season meant football fans there were starved of top flight football for a whole footballing year.

Having two teams climb up will be more than welcome.