Kenya Harlequins coach Paul Murunga has hailed his side's mentality after coming from behind to defeat KCB 17-12 in sudden death and win the Kakamega Ingo Sevens on Sunday.
The Ngong Road outfit looked out of sorts in the first half but showed character in the second and in sudden death to carry the day.
Murunga's charges had lost the opening leg to Kabras with the same scoreline last week during the Christie Sevens.
A delighted Murunga was all smiles after the final. “Credit to the boys; They believed in themselves even when things were not looking well in the first half. We tweaked a few things in the second half and we were able to get into the ascendancy and carry the day," he said.
Murunga urged his charges to carry the momentum into the third leg —the Dala Sevens— in two weeks.
“We take a break for the next two weeks but we are not going to rest on our laurels. I believe there are certain aspects of play which we can improve on and be sharp,” he added.
The win propelled Quins to the top of the National Seven Series standings with 41 points —two clear of Kabras in second with 39 points. KCB are distant third on 32 points.
In a topsy-turvy final, KCB struck first when Elvis Olukusi beat his markers on the outside before making easy work of Amon Wamalwa to score the bankers’ first try.
Olukusi was on the mark, finishing off a brilliant break by Trevor Odawa to extend the lead to 12-0
Quins regrouped and Wamalwa showed the KCB defence a clean pair of heels before offloading to Albert Olela to touch down with the former converting for a 12-7 lead at the break.
On resumption, Quins stepped up a gear with Brian Ratila levelling matters with a corner post try to send the match into sudden death.
Lucky Dewald would be the hero of the day after rounding a congested part of the field to score the golden points as Quins emerged victorious.
Host Kabras took the bronze medal by beating Nakuru 22-7 in the third-place match.
