Blazers off to flying start in hockey league

New signing Grace Bwire scored a brace as record champions Blazers defeated Sliders 3-0 in the opening match of Kenya Hockey Union Women Premier League at City Park Stadium in Nairobi on Saturday.

Blazers signed Bwire from Multimedia University.

Bwire, who is part of National Under-21 team, scored through penalty corners in the 54th and 58th minutes respectively while Hellena Chebet added the third in the 31st minute through a fantastic field goal.

Blazers assistant coach Josephine Ataro conceded that they struggled in the first and second quarters before they regrouped in the second half.

“It was a slow match but I’m happy that we got three goals and three points in the bag. It’s a good place to start the season but we need to work on conversion of the short corners. You can’t get seven penalty corners and only convert two!“ posed Ataro.

Sliders stand-in coach Elizabeth Obong’o said she was impressed with the team’s performance despite the loss. Obong’o noted that holding the record champions for the better part of the match was not a mean achievement.

“Our backline did well but unfortunately they crumbled in the third and fourth quarter due to fatigue. We have the potential to do well this season but our fitness is wanting. We have new players and going forward we just need to gel,” said Obong’o who was holding brief for Linet Onyango who was away due to personal commitments.

Sliders finished fifth in the 2019 season before coronavirus-enforced break.

It was a slow match as Sliders stayed in their own half with Blazers struggling to penetrate their defence.

Blazers pushed for a breakthrough which arrived in the 31st minute when Chebet sounded the boards. Sliders then crumbled to soak in two more goals in the second half.

Sunday fixtures

Vikings v Nairobi Chapel (W) 9am

KCA v Technical University of Kenya (M) 11am

JKUAT v Wazalendo Masters (M) 1pm

Amira Sailors v Dutch Group flowers Wolverines (W) 3pm

USIU-A v Sailors (M) 5pm