Sunday, December 28, 2014

Malindi RFC 32 - Salt City (Gongoni) 10

The Malindi RFC starting 15 (or a bit more!)
Made it back for a friendly against Gongoni last week.   Had a great week training with the boys, we worked a bit on fitness and a bit on getting the ball out wide to score in the corner. Had some issues with some of the younger guys loosing the ball in contact despite Some good forward play. They get a bit excited when they go in and often forget to protect the ball, wanting to get more yards or hit the tackler particularly hard.  Someone somewhere must have taught poor old Nyanje to make contact by hitting the tackler with the ball... which obviously results in a lot of turnover ball.  Nyanje, protect the ball buddy! :)

Anyway, it was a good result for the club who had just come off of an important league win against South Coast Pirates which I believe sees us top of the table.  Unfortunatlye once again, the nationwide league has more walkovers than games played, but hopefully with new management at the KRU, they might be able to give a good think about how to get around this.  I think removing teams that are not travelling, removing a team like Voi which is too hard to reach, and making sure more effort is put into scheduling would be good starts.  Apparently a lot of the University based teams have games scheduled during exams... this is disappointing.

A word about Salt City RFC.  Great club, formed by the commitment of Malindi High and Galana Secondary School boys living around gongoni.  Particularly Colins, a young lad who has put a lot of effort into getting young kids to play.  The club left him a ball to help with training.  Hopefully we can use them as a feeder club, but it would be good if the subsidies could come back, and we could get them into the league on their own.  We could actually have 3 or 4 clubs in the malindi area with a team in Watamu, Guede, Malindi and Gongoni...


Some pics here from the match: Malindi vs Salt City pics



Friday, April 11, 2014

Malindi High are District Champions for 7s

We'll done to all the teams in Malindi district! We had a great tournament this year with newbies Mida giving their best! Mum eye and Gede were stronger than usual, and the cross town rivalry between Barani and Malindi is alive and well!

Barani started a hard fought 5-0 win over muyeye, muyeye has made leaps and bounds of progress with Reagan and "Captain Somalia" Abdul leading the charge.

Gede started turning heads with a 7-5 win against perennial favourites Barani who are obviously well coached.

Muyeye then played a defensive masterpiece against Malindi, which malindi pulled out of the fire with a last second try almost between the posts, unfortunately missing the kicks for a 5-5 tie!

Malindi then pulled off a 10-5 win against barani, again with a last minute try to pull it off. Barani did not disapoint, scoring a try down 5-0 in the second half against a strong wind with many opportunities to score later in the half. Malindi showed committed defence and somehow managed to keep them out.

This set the stage for a massive showdown between two unbeaten teams. Gede ran the opening kickoff straight back for a try which they converted. Down 7-0 nil, malindi was shaken, but somehow managed to climb back with an unconverted try from salim eliud, and then gathered their nerves to put together some nice runs which were valiantly defended by Gede. Malindi were held up on a couple of occasions in the try zone, and were awarded a scrum on the 5 metre line just before the whistle blew. The ball somehow miraculously made it all the way down the line and malindi scored to the elation of the crowd.

Gede was bitterly disapointed, and to be honest, it looked to me like they were playing the best, most consistent rugby in the tournament. I was very pleased with malindi's victory as it showed character against strong competition. So malindi and muyeye are now through. Gede somehow mustered a 5-3 victory in the final game, and I believe it is the first time that they've advanced! Congrats to them and to everyone, I think that the bar is rising in malindi, and together with the great work being done in galana by odima, we are starting to become a serious regional hotbed for rugby.

I only wish we could attract some tours from upcountrytry teams!

Cheers,
J

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Poor performance at Provincials

After all the hype, it appears that a series of mental breakdowns caused Malindi High to Choke their way out of the National Championships.  The team must have been the clear favourites to become champions after two relatively decisive victories over last year's champions and County rivals St Georges in the County Championships.

The team however performed miserably, losing all three of its round robin games against lesser competition.

Results:
5-12 Kenyata
0-7 Khamisi
0-26 Shimba

The icing on the cake was that St George's won the competition.  They were awarded a spot in the competition despite being taken out by Malindi on the basis that they were the defending champions. Good luck to them and Coach Ezra in the National tournament!  The runner's up Shimba Hills will also be attending the nationals since the Nationals this year will be held at the coast, the home region apparently receives an extra spot in the tournament.  Good luck to them as well and to coach Nils Achayo, who I understand switched from perennial favourites Shimo la Tewa to Shimba Hills because of discipline issues at the former.

Malindi High will now focus on the upcoming District 7s tournament. Surely mental preparation will be a large part of their training regimen.


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Malindi are Kilifi County Champions for 15s!

Big congrats to Waweru and the whole Malindi Rugby Community.  Looks like we made it.  Last year, St Georges looked like unbeatable opposition, and the boys gathered all of their courage, focus and discipline and worked hard on upping their game all year last year.  We strolled through the Districts as expected with some stiff competition from Barani, and now, it seems like we've taken down the cyclops!  We beat St Georges twice in the tournament, once in the opening stages 10-7 and once in the final 6-0!!!

Great work boys!!!  Today, the semi-finals didn't go all Malindi RFC's way, while Malindi thrashed Lutsa'ni 31-0, St Georges did beat Galana 15-3, dashing the hopes of an all Malindi RFC final.  Malindi high stepped up, and won the final with a pair of drop kicks scored through the deft kicking of Stephen Biko.

This feels a bit like winning the Coast Championship for Malindi, as St Georges won all the games last year against Malindi in both 15s and 7s.  But Malindi High's boys must step up and stay focussed as there are sure to be strong challenges ahead in the form of Shimo la Tewa coached by Achayo as well as the perennially strong Taita teams and let's not forget Kwale and the All Blacks from Waa. The provincials will be held on the 25th at Shimo la Tewa and Shanzu.  The nationals are at the Coast this year as well...

Hopefully with our pedigree this year, we might win a couple more games at the Nationals if we make it! ;)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Malindi and Galana Unbeaten in Counties Round Round Robin Play

Great News! Both Malindi and Galana finished the round robin at the Kilifi counties with unbeaten records! Both finished obviously top of their group, and Malindi beat St Georges to get there 10-7, otherwise no team has scored on them this year! Hope Galana beats Georges as well so that we can have an all Malindi RFC County final! Congrats to Waweru and Odima for the success so far. Keep pushing boys!

The full results are the following:
St Georges 63-0 Dr Krapf. Mariakani 0-12 Ribe. Malindi 35-0 Ganze. Lutsa'n 3-20 Galana. Krapf 0-41 Malindi. Ribe 0-5 Lutsa'n. Ganze 0-46 St. Georges. Galana 16-0 Mariakani. Krapf 29-0 Ganze. Ribe 0-12 Galana. St. Georges 7-10 MalindiMariakani 0-8 Luts'ni.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Malindi High District Champs Again!!!

Malindi High School once again are District Rugby 15s Champions for Malindi District.  The team, which has quite a few returning players, won all three of its games to finish top in the district, not requiring a playoff.  The District sends one team to the Kilifi County Championships this week. Malindi thrashed up and coming rivals Muyeye, led by captain Somalia Abdul “Prince” Thiago 44- 0. Gede, coached by ex Malindi High Captain Harold Simba were also beaten handily 37 – 0 followed by a tough 3-0 against always tough cross-town rivals Barani to keep the clean sheet on the championship, a goal set by the team before the tournament. 

Malindi Rugby Footbal Club worked on leveling the playing field this year, inviting players to all schools to train and play with the club, attractivng  players from as far away as Galana Highschool who will also be competing for the Kilifi County Championship in Mazeras. One of the goals is to ensure that the winner of the Malindi Districts competes at the National Championships. 


Good luck at the Counties boys!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Preparations for the new season!


Malindi High backs running through some drills
Malindi High’s rugby team has launched its preparations for the 2014 season.  The team has had a great deal of success in recent years, the team will be aiming for it’s fourth straight trip to the Nationals and it’s 5th in 6 years.  We all have high hopes as it is the strongest ever team with 15 returning players.  The team is planning to play friendlies against local sides, but welcomes competition from out of province.  Please contact Waweru at 0720 873 764 if you’re interested in a game.  We’d love to host a touring side from upcountry or elsewhere!