Rangers beat military side Amazon for first win

With ten minutes left to their second Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) women's league match, Rangers Women were trailing Amazon HC by two goals. 

What happened from the 50th minute was nothing short of a man-of-the match performance as the Rangers technical bench decided to give 13-year old Mical Akanji. Maybe it was just our of the need to have her get a feel of the competition at that level, but it turned out to be a lucky gamble. 

The budding right winger went on to lead Rangers' attack and turned the match around for a 26-21 win at the final whistle, handing the Kimilili-based side their first win of the league.

Joan Onyinkwa led the scoring for Rangers at nine goals while Zibora Mihalo added seven to the tally for the win. 

"Akanji may not have been the top scorer at the end of the match but in the ten minutes she played she turned the game around for us with five crucial goals that got us back on track. We were using Ruth Nanjala and Jacinta Khakasa in the right wing. We thought Akanji who is still a primary school student could not handle the pressure but she proved us all wrong," said coach Gerald Juma. 

He continued, "We had a good match but the need for experience was evident and that us what we are here to gain before we can contest for any trophies. Thika ladies got tired towards the end so introducting speed to the game did wonders for our win," said Juma. 

Rangers men's side, coming off a hard-fought 30-28 win against Kenyatta University (K.U) on Saturday shared the spoils with Thika as they played for 43 all draw. Rangers led by one goal going into the second half at 21-20 and it was an end-to-end encounter in the second period to end in the stalemate. 

Meanwhile, holders National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) continued their good showing as they beat Buccaneers 33-16. Kahawa picked their first win in a 31-21 outcome against Generation. 

Strathmore remain unbeaten as they were the better side against Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) in a 33-20 outcome.