Parkroad Badgers’ 1-0 loss at the hands of Strathmore University Gladiators on Sunday in the Kenya Hockey Union men’s Premier League has put them in grave danger of relegation.
The Badgers have lost 11 matches, won only two and are second-from-bottom with six points in the 10-team league.
Bottom-placed Mombasa Sports Club (MSC), who have four points from 11 matches, are also strong candidates to drop to the second tier at the end of the season.
At the end of the season, the top two teams in the Super League are promoted to the top tier, while the last two sides in the Premier League are demoted.
Badgers coach Gilbert Langat is aware of the hovering relegation cloud, but insisted that they still have hope of surviving the drop.
“Ofcourse it’s bothering that we are in that position. We wouldn’t have been in this position if we took our chances in almost all our matches. We play so well but our offense has let us down.
We were in the Super League in 2017 before we earned promotion in 2018 and while there are also good teams there, we are not ready to go back. We are not meant to be there and therefore we have no choice but to win the remaining matches to survive the drop,” said Lagat.
Badgers’ remaining fixtures are against Sailors, Wazalendo, Kenya Police, Western Jaguars and Greensharks.
On the opposite end, defending champions and leaders Butali Sugar Warriors extended their unbeaten run after they sank Badgers 5-0 at the City Park Stadium on Saturday.
Butali has 33 points from 13 matches and are favourites to retain their title.
Police squandered the chance to close the gap on Butali after they fell to Western Jaguars 2-0 in Kakamega.
They are joint second with Jaguars on 24 points from 12 matches, although the law enforcers have a superior goal difference.
Strathmore, who have blown hot and cold this season, complete the top four position with 17 points from 13 matches.
In the women’s Premier League, unbeaten leaders Strathmore University Scorpions played to a 1-1 draw against defending champions Blazers to keep their hopes alive of winning their first ever title.
Scorpions lead the standings with 22 points from eight matches, seven points ahead of second-placed Blazers.
Lakers complete the top three with 14 points from eight matches played.
At the bottom end, Amira Sailors and Sliders have five points each from 10 and nine matches played.
In the men’s Super League, Sikh Union and Kenya College of Accountancy University are favourites to earn promotion to the men’s top tier as they occupy the top two positions with 41 and 35 points respectively.
In the women’s category, runaway leaders Kenyatta University lead the race for promotion to the Premier League with 28 points from 10 matches.
The remaining slot is between University of Nairobi and MSC, who have 17 and 15 points from seven and eight matches respectively. BY DAILY NATION