Nairobi — Kenya is 180 minutes away from sending a team to the FIFA World Cup for the first time ever, after the Rising Starlets walloped Ethiopia 3-0 at the Ulinzi Sports Complex to qualify for the final round of qualification for the U17 World Cup.
A bullet header from skipper Elizabeth Ochaka and a pair of scorching efforts from Velma Awuor and Talanta Hela prodigy Lorna Faith saw Starlets qualify for the final round of qualification, where they will play Burundi.
Starlets had played to a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Addis Ababa last weekend and needed a win at home to seal a ticket, and they did so with pinache and class, to stand on the brink of history.
A cagy start didn't give much of close scoring chances, with the midfielders trying to find danger girl Valerie Nekesa with through passes but the weight of the balls were too much and close to the keeper.
Various attempts at goal
In the 22nd minute, Nekesa made an attempt to go at goal herself when she dribbled away from her markers before shooting, but the effort was wild and wide.
In the 39th minute, Starlets should have been 1-0 up when Awuor picked the ball inside the box but took too much time to make a decision, and by the time she was pulling the trigger, three bodies were on the line to block the shot.
Starlets however got the goal a minute to the break. Skipper Ochaka rose to thump home a header from a corner and send the home crowd wild.
In the second half, Mildred Cheche's girls upped the tempo and it took them just 12 minutes to seal the game, Awuor picking the ball from distance, finding space and unleashing a venomous shot that flew into the roof of the net.
Faith Lornah with scorcher
In the 70th minute, Faith who helped Busia County clinch the Talanta Hela U19 Girls title when she scored with a worldie that reminded everyone why she was voted MVP.
Faith, a 15-year old student picked the ball from distance before turning it to her favourite left foot and rifling an unstoppable shot that flew over the keeper.
It was the sucker punch that the home girls needed to tame the Ethiopians and swing the pendulum in their favour and from then, they managed the game with ease, to see off a memorable home win that takes them within a whisker of history.
