Police set their sights on gunning third KHU league title

Kenya Police head coach Patrick Mugambi has set the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Men’s Premier League title as his bare minimum for the 2021 season set to tentatively kick off in the first week of April.

The law enforcers lastly laid hands on the title in 2017 under the tutelage of the late Kenneth Kaunda. Mugambi who served as Kaunda’s assistant is confident his charges will shoot down Butali Warriors’ exponential dominance in the league as the sugar millers have won the title twice in succession.

Mugambi bitterly conceded to have partially helped Butali win the crown in the previous seasons after letting his best strikers; Calvince Kanu and Amos Barkibir join the Kisumu based club.

He says he has kept his last season's squad intact and solved shortcomings that saw them play second fiddle to Butali.

“We are going for the title this season. Our biggest undoing in the last two seasons has been losing civilian players in our ranks to our competitors but we have learnt our lesson the hard way. We have in the last two years groomed able replacements for the departed players and they are now ripe and we can bank our hopes on them,” said the tactician

The soft-spoken gaffer however regretted the fitness levels of his boys may work against his plan.

He said the players were recalled to their work stations after the first case of coronavirus was reported in the country in March 2020 and were forced to trade the hockey sticks for the gun in order to implement the restrictions imposed by the government.

“My boys are rusty since we broke camp and reported back to our respective stations after sporting activities were halted but I am certain we will get our guns oiled before action bullies off. We have been assembling and training once and hopefully, we will be in good shape and begin our title onslaught on the right footing,” he added

Police won the title for the first time in 2015.