Kajiado’s Laiser Hill School and Kibera’s Olympic High School won the Airtel Rising Stars boys’ and girls’ football titles as the curtains came down on this year’s regional games.
They will travel for the national finals in Kisumu on August 1-5.
Earlier Laiser beat Upper Hill 5-3 on post-match penalties after a one-all draw in regulation time in the semi-final in the morning.
The match which had initially been set for Friday evening was called off due to contention over the venue but was surprisingly played at the same ground on Saturday.
Laiser went on to meet Kibera’s Olympic High in the final, a repeat of the two’s meeting in the group stage where Laiser won 2-0.
The boys from Kajiado completed a double over Olympic with a double from Julius Oketch. The striker opened the scores just two minutes into the match from the edge of the box.
Harambee Stars under-20 winger Musa Masika who has been instrumental in Laiser’s campaign came close in the 16th minute, racing on the left past his markers to lay in a cross but Richard Odanda’s effort from the header went wild.
Oketch then doubled his and Laiser’s tally in the 37th minute with a neat finish from a well worked move, coming at the end of a spell of dominance by the Kajiado champions.
In the second half, Olympic came back a rejuvenated side and made tactical changes to their side that changed the tempo of the game.
The pressure only yielded fruit five minutes to the final whistle when skipper Shawn Odhiambo halved the deficit, but Olympic’s hope of a late fight back were thwarted by a disciplined Laiser defense.
In the girls’ category, Olympic’s girls team made amends for their boys’ failure, Dorah Achieng scoring the winner in the 71st minute as they beat Matuu 2-1.
Sheela Ronoh equalized for Matuu in the 58th minute after Dorcas Okwomo had given Olympic the lead.
Maina Wanjigi beat Kikima
In the third place playoff, Nairobi champions Maina Wanjigi beat Kikima 2-0 via goals form Venah Kakai and Nanzala Delphin in the 19th and 39th minutes.
Elsewhere, Barding and Nyakach will represent Lake region at the national finals after winning their final matches on Saturday.
Barding eased past Usenge with a 3-1 score while Nyakach Girls edged out Singo Girls 1-0 to win the girls' title.
In Coas regiont, Harambee Starlets forward Mwanahalima ‘Dogo’ Adam was in superb form as she scored five goals with her school St. John’s Kaloleni beating Kwale Girls 7-0 in the final. Liz Katungwa and Nuru Adana scored the other two.
Green Palms won the boys’ title after beating Shimba Hills 3-0.
