KENYA yesterday proved too strong for Swaziland after they convincingly beat the Southern African nation in an exciting match at the ongoing 2013 Castle-sponsored COSAFA Senior Challenge Cup played at Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe.

A brace from Edwin Lavatsa on the fourth and 54th minutes ensured Kenya, a guest nation at the tournament, collected maximum points to go top of group B.

Lavatsa put Kenya on the board barely five minutes into the match with a superb finish to show the guests' intentions to wreak havoc on Swaziland's prospects of advancing to the quarter-final stage much to the jubilation of fans in the stands.

Swaziland tried their best to restore parity through their Talisman Sabelo Msinisa but Kenya's defence was equal to the task to force the match into half-time with a 1-0 lead.

Buoyed by an electric crowd of fans that filled the stadium, the Harambee stars came in from the break hoping a victory would boost their chances of a quarter-final spot against Angola and it was not long before Lavatsa added his second with a clinical strike in the 54th minute to seal victory.

It was a heated match from the start, with players from both teams pushing and shoving each other a few times.

The win for Kenya was surprisingly easy, especially that it came barely 24 hours after playing another competitive game where they forced a 2-2 draw against Lesotho.

They should have gone 3-0 on 58 minutes but Kiongera shot straight at the keeper from along range off a Francis Kahata cutback.

Staring defeat in the face, Swaziland rallied with Christie forcing Onyango to a save on the hour mark.

Substitute Andrew Murunga then wasted a fine chance to increase Stars' advantage failing to even hit the target off another Kahata cross as Kenya sought to break at pace.

Mazibuko hit a free-kick from a promising position but Onyango again stretched to keep it out on 75. Their final chance fell to Wonder Nhleko but the Gor Mahia goalkeeper again made the save three minutes from time.

Swaziland now face their neighbours Lesotho in their last group B match, while Kenya play Botswana tomorrow.

Kenya 2 Swaziland 0