A majority of the top leagues in the country may have closed for the day but that does not mean the very lower tiers are also done with the 2022/23 season. Down in the Nairobi Regional League, AFC Leopards Youth FC, The Cubs, only need four more wins from their remaining seven matches to seal first position in Zone B.The Cubs lead the table standings with 40 points from 19 matches whereas Escalators FC and Kibagare Slums tie on second position with 38 points.Coach Martin Aganda’s side, however, has the upper hand in this race for promotion into Div 2 as his side scores for fun. Len Mungaho, the division’s top scorer, dons the Cubs’ blue and white. Vice-captain Moses Oyengo is full of confidence that they will stop at nothing to earn promotion.##NAJAVA_MECA_7365344##‘’That’s our sole focus, promotion. We have played well this season and we deserve it,’’ he starts off.‘’Our league has lagged behind and that explains why up to now we haven’t concluded it, others have. There is a decision to play the remaining matches both on midweeks and weekends so that we can finish in time,’’ says the Center-back.Skippered by yet another centre-back, David Odhiambo, Cubs also have in its ranks former Zoo FC forward Castro Likhanga. Oyengo knows that it is this wealth of experience that has made them unconquerable in that division.‘’We are young yet well exposed to some high quality football. Most of the players with us have tried out with bigger teams already, including our senior team,’’ adds the lad who himself tried out with Mathare United FC in the mid-season this year.The transfer window is already open and for a club known to promote from within, AFC Leopards senior team- having failed to win a single trophy last season- may have to yet look again from its youngsters.NSL top scorer Nyamawi Beja seals move to BandariThe likes of Brian Wanyama, Maxwell Otieno, Said Mohendi, Zachary Nite and Giovanni Lukhumwa who currently command starting places in the senior team were once among the Cubs. Oyengo played with them and believes most of his current teammates are on the waiting list to join the senior team.‘’The club has a history of promoting youngsters from our youth team to the senior team and looking at my current squad, I’m confident some of us will scale up, but first- we focus on our league,’’ concludes the lad who played alongside Collins Sichenje, Alpha Onyango, Joshua Nyatini and Boniface Onyango at Green Commandos.In the eventuality of promotion into the Div 2 league, Coach Aganda’s Cubs will just be two steps shy of the second tier; the FKF National Super League.
