NYS Spades booked a historic maiden National 7s Circuit Division One quarterfinal appearance after an impressive day one showing at the Driftwood 7s in Mombasa on Saturday, 22 August.Download our MozzartSport App For More NewsThe Spades defied heavy rains and silenced their doubters at Mombasa Sports Club, winning two of their three Pool D matches to secure their place in the final eight.##NAJAVA_MECA_9907090##The rain poured heavily throughout much of the day, at one point making visibility difficult, before finally subsiding as the final round of pool matches got underway.Spades opened their campaign with a 5-5 draw against Mwamba RFC before producing one of the day’s biggest upsets, stunning Strathmore Leos 15-12. They completed their pool campaign with a narrow 7-5 victory over Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) Rugby to seal their historic qualification.KCB dealt Driftwood Sevens blow after key player lands Monaco Rugby Sevens gigSpeaking to Mozzart Sport after the win, head coach Martin Munga could barely contain his excitement, describing the achievement as a dream come true.“The boys are very excited. They have been working for it. They have dreamed about it, so I don’t think it came as a surprise to them. But we are very grateful to God because he has been with us throughout this journey,” he said.Munga said the team approached the day one game at a time and will now turn their attention to reviewing their performances ahead of the quarterfinals.“I have not processed it yet. But we decided to just play it one game at a time. I just told the boys to believe in themselves, to play what we have been training on, and just to enjoy themselves.We are now going to do some video reviews. We will see what worked for us, what did not work for us and what options we have. It is all about opening the boys’ minds every game, just showing them an option that they have,” he continued.What Abud Omar wants Kenyan football to borrow from rugbySpades will be joined in the quarterfinals by Mwamba, who progressed from Pool D after Strathmore and MMUST both suffered two defeats.For Strathmore, the early exit came just days after they reached the Kabeberi 7s final, while their coach Willis Ojal celebrated his birthday on Friday night.Meanwhile, Kabras RFC continued their impressive run in the National 7s Circuit, going unbeaten on their trip to Mombasa.The Kakamega-based side began Pool A with a 12-0 win over Nondies RFC, with winger Matthias Osimbo scoring twice in the rain-soaked encounter. ##NAJAVA_MECA_9907450##They followed that up with a commanding 43-0 victory over Mombasa RFC before sharing a 17-17 draw with Kenya Harlequin in their final pool match.The result saw Kabras top Pool A and advance to the quarterfinals alongside Nondies, who bounced back from their disappointing Kabeberi campaign to finish second.Kabras captain Griffin Chao said the team achieved its primary objective on day one but remains focused on winning the Main Cup.“The games have been perfect. We topped Pool A, which was our main goal today. We started off well, the second game was harder than the first. [uploading100%]The third game was even tougher as we had to score in the final minute. The team is ready for tomorrow and we are still going for that Main Cup,” the speedster said.Kenya Harlequin, however, suffered a rare setback, missing out on the quarterfinals for the first time this season after recording two defeats and a draw.The Quins drew 17-17 with Kabras in their final pool match but could not recover from their earlier results.Coach Patrice Agunda admitted his side failed to produce its usual performance.“We just went off script and we did not play our brand of rugby. We did not have the effort that we normally have.We finished our games on a high when we took Kabras to the wire. We caught up too late and we could not recover at the end of the day,” Agunda said.Mwamba RFC captain shares secret to longevity after decade in rugbyIn Pool C, Menengai Oilers marched into the last eight unbeaten after three convincing victories.Oilers opened with a 14-7 win over Nakuru RFC before hammering hosts Kilifi RFC 34-5. They completed their pool campaign with another emphatic result, defeating Daystar Falcons 31-5.Daystar still progressed to the quarterfinals after earlier wins over Nakuru and Kilifi.Pool B will see KCB Rugby and invitees Uganda 7s advance to the quarterfinals, completing the line-up for Sunday’s knockout stage
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