Highway Secondary school and Ebwali punched tickets to the boys football final of the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) after edging Kisumu Day and Kabarnet High School respectively in tense semifinals staged at the Nakuru Boys High School on Sunday 11 September.Ebwali 1-0 Kabarnet Western region representatives, Ebwali has a bright start to the game as they dictated the tempo of the game with Kabarnet from Rift Valley region showing signs of a nervous start to the game.KSSSA: Wiyeta Girls and Dagoretti Mixed book place in the football final15 minutes into the game, Ebwali could have broken the deadlock where it not from Calvin Otieno’s profligacy as he missed a diving header from point blank range when he only had the keeper to beat.Otieno was fresh from claiming a brace in the 3-1 win over Highway High School on Saturday to sail into the semis with a 100% record.That man again, Otieno saw his header fly just above the upright from a well floated free kick as he just couldn’t find his bearings in the first half.It was one way traffic as Ebwali again failed to make their chances count this time Derrick Olinga was sent through on goal courtesy of a well threaded through pass but his effort just sailed wide off the mark when he only had the keeper to beat and acres of space.The second half was a mirror of what transpired in the first half with Ebwali missing a plethora of chances that they created with the Kabarnet goal keeper putting his side in the game on a number of occasions with various impressive saves.Just when it looked like it was not Ebwali’s day, Calvin Otieno managed to shake off his rusty finishing in the game when he reacted quickest to James Maraha’s shot after the latter left his marker for dead in the left flank, six minutes from time.The Western Region representatives withered a late storm from Kabarnet who finally woke up in the dying minutes but it was a little too late as Ebwali held on for the 1-0 win.The full time whistle sent pandemonium around the Nakuru Boys pitches as their fans stormed the pitch in celebration as they lofted the match winner Otieno into the air.Highway 4-2 Kisumu Day (post-match penalties) In the other semi final, Highway scored in the first half through Mohammed Abdalla as they went into the half time break with a deserved leas after dominating for majority of the half with Kisumu Day struggling to exerted their dominance that saw them win their final group game 6-0 against Olbolsat.With eight minutes left on the clock and Kisumu Day looking dead and buried, up stepped Verone Okeyo to pull his side level and extend his tally to five in the tournament after claiming a hat trick in the emphatic win over Olbolsat.KSSSA: Relentless Kisumu Day annihilate Olbolsat to book football semis berthThe game ended in a 1-1 draw as extra time was ushered in but the first half of extra time was underwhelming, producing little goal mouth action with the second half also similar as the game proceeded to penalties.The Kisumu Day goalkeeper Tom Onyango missed the second spot kick as they also failed to score their fourth penalty with Highway scoring all their penalties to book a place in the final.
