)
Aldrine Kibet scored a hat-trick with Kevin Wangaya netting his fourth goal of the tournament, as Salim Babu's charges cruised to an easy 4-0 win.
Kenya’s Rising Stars will be facing Burundi in the semi-finals of the ongoing CECAFA U-20 Championship on Friday after they tossed aside Sudan 4-0 to finish top of group A of their pool.
The clash, which took place at the Azam Stadium in Dar Es Salam, saw Aldrine Kibet net a hat-trick, while Kevin Wangaya netted his fourth goal of the tournament to give them all the three points and see them finish on 10 points.
Kenya took the early initiative from the get go, creating two good chances, pinning back Sudan as they aimed at taking an early lead, and Two minutes into the match, they were already ahead, when Aldrine Kibet headed the ball into the back of the net from an Andreas Odhiambo corner kick.
Sudan had a great chance to equalise from a freekick after Odhiambo committed a foul just outside the box, but the resultant strike by Sudan hit the side in the 9th minute.
In the 12th minute, Kibet, who was linking up nicely with center forward Lawrence Okoth all afternoon, received the ball on the half turn before setting up the MOFA forward, but his shot was not enough to get the better of Sudan keeper Mohammed Abdala Ibrahim.
There was a brief moment of tension for Kenyan fans when Sudan nearly equalised after right winger Musa Hussein dribbled his way down the right flank and leaving Stars defenders for dead, but his resultant attempt was not enough to beat Ibrahim Wanzala.
The game then became fairly even for the next thirty minutes, but in the 40th minute, it was the Kenyans who would be smiling once more, as Aldrine Kibet would find the back of the net following a well constructed move.
Baron Ochieng found William Gitama Mwangi with a defence splitting pass, before the Bandari winger cut it back across goal for Kibet to unleash a right-footed shot into the back of the net to give them a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the break.
Rising Stars would continue creating a flurry of chances after the break, and in the 58th minute, Aldrine Kibet nearly completed a hat-trick when he released a left-footed shot from outside the box that forced Ibrahim into making a good save.
The Kenyans continued knocking on the door and very soon, Kevin Wangaya would net the side’s third goal of the afternoon after Sudan failed to clear the ball well, allowing Louis Ingavi to win it back and lay it off to the Albania-based midfielder to score his fourth goal of the tournament.
Kibet would complete his hattrick in stoppage time to ice the cake on what would be a good afternoon for Salim Babu's charges.
In the end, all those goals would be enough to give them all the points in the end.
How they lined up:
Kenya XI : Ibrahim Wanzala, Baron Ochieng, Amos Wanjala, Manzur Suleiman (Jackson Imbiakha (80’), Rodgers Obusu, Andreas Omondi, Kevin Wangaya (Phabian Sheldon 80’), Hassan Beja (Tyron Kariuki 80’) Aldrine Kibet, William Gitama (Dalphine Omuri 66’) Lawrence Okoth (Louis Ingavi 60’)
Kenya Substitutes (unused)
Joshua Keya, Joseph Onyango, Kelly Madada,
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)