There are a handful who doubted Kevin Amwayi’s potential impact when it was announced that he had made a return to the Kenyan top flight with Kakamega Homeboyz.Roped in during the mid-season, and handed a starting berth against Shalimar FC in the FKF Mozzart Bet Cup on Sunday 5th, the former Ulinzi Stars forward took the challenge head on despite a slow start. He explains why.‘’Shamilar match was definitely going to be tough. We were away from home and playing against a lowly ranked side, they simply had nothing to lose and most of us were new at Homeboyz. That’s why they managed to hold us off for the full ninety minutes,’’ says the left-footed forward. Kariobangi Sharks smiling all the way to the bank after cashing Tyson Otieno to Police FCAmwayi left Ulinzi in 2020, citing personal reasons- and took a break from football. After a year’s worth of rest, he resurfaced under the colours of Div 1 side Kona Rangers and helped promote the side to the National Super League. No teams however were promoted that season. Homeboyz were drawn against Mozzart Bet Cup defending champions Gor Mahia in the round of 16 but this would be a home match, finally. It is here that everything changed, reveals Amwayi.‘’We knew how hard they (Gor) would come at us but we had the advantage of playing at home. Our form in the league had also started picking up so we were full of confidence and that’s what spurred us to victory,’’ he continues. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7359253##Homeboyz took down Gor Mahia by a solitary goal to proceed into the quarter final, and against previous cup holders Kariobangi Sharks.‘’At this point we could see how close we were to the cup. The good thing about it is all you needed was one win and you are in the next round. We really put in a lot of work in training before traveling to Sharks,’’ says Amwayi who would score in the 6-1 thriller. Kenyan duo to officiate AFCON U23 finalAmwayi, Ambrose Sifuna, and braces from Hillary Otieno and Vincent Ogolla saw coach Patrick Odhiambo’s men dismantle Sharks by a five-goal margin in a cup quarter-final contest. Fans all over the country could feel what was coming, Homeboyz’s first major cup victory.A semi-final sibling contest against AFC Leopards stood in the way of Amwayi’s side in the semi-final, at least before the side could dream of playing in a cup final. Leopards would take the fall, and Tusker the only obstacle left between Homeboyz and continental football. John Baraza craving to get started at Bandari after sealing moveAmwayi, scoring the Cup’s most important goal in the final against Tusker, says he was overwhelmed with joy. He had finally proven many people wrong. ‘’It was difficult to believe. Not only was I responsible for the cup victory, I was also the reason my club was going to play in continental football for the very first time. It’s an unbelievable feeling,’’ he concludes. Kakamega Homeboyz will play in the CAF Confederation Cup, 2023/24 season whereas their counterparts Gor Mahia, after winning the Premier League, will contest for 2023/24 CAF Champions
