Nyanza’s Manyatta United and Kitale Queens from Rift Valley are the new national champions of the Chapa Dimba na Safaricom youth tournament.
Manyatta United emerged the overall national boys’ champions after beating Rift Valley’s Al-Ahly FC 2-1at a fully parked Kinoru stadium in Meru County.
Dennis Ayot scored an early penalty for Manyatta in the 23rd minute before Benson Ochieng made it two through a well-directed header in the 38th minute.
Al-Ahly FC came back into the second half, controlling the game and they were gifted with a penalty in the 60th minute but it proved to be only a consolation as the match ended at 2-1 in favour of the Kisumu side.
In the girls’ category, Kitale won 4-2 against Nairobi’s Acakoro Ladies in a post-match penalty shootout to be crowned national champions after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Sylvia Makhungu gave Acakoro an early lead in the 15th minute before Agneta Marondo equalized in the 22nd minute to end the first half at 1-1.
The Second half saw Rachel Adhiambo score through a set piece in the 68th minute only for Kitale Queens to respond almost immediately with an equalizer in the 71st minute, courtesy of Daisy Busia as the match ended 2-2.
Manyatta United and Kitale Queens each bagged the coveted prize of Sh1 million among other individual prizes. The losing finalists, Acakoro Ladies and Al-Ahly FC pocketed Sh 500,000 cash rewards.
This edition saw 32 boys and girls scouted from across all regions during the eight regional finals to form The Chapa Dimba Na Safaricom All-Stars who attended a 10-day training camp in Spain early last month.
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