Zinhle Ndawonde’s try two and a half minutes into sudden death extra time ended the Lionesses campaign at the Women’s Sevens World Series qualifier in Hong Kong, South Africa reaching the final with a 12-7 semifinal win at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday morning..
The tension filled match was scoreless at the half time interval, both teams cagey, probably as a result of the prevalent nerves and an awareness of what was at stake.
Zenay Jordaan broke the deadlock four minutes into the second half, scoring and converting for a 7-0 South African lead but Janet Okello again popped up with a crucial try for the Kenyans, Remour with the game levelling conversion to bring the game level heading into extra time.
Doreen Remour’s try in sudden death extra time had earlier seen Kenya reach the semifinal with a 17-12 win over Argentina.
The Argentines were a difficult opponent for the Kenyans, hogging possession for large spells of the fixture and were first on the scoreboard went skipper Sofia Gonzalez went over for an unconverted try.
Sinaida Aura scored for Kenya late in the half to restore parity as the teams went into the break tied 5-5.
Janet Okello give the Lionesses the lead for the first time in this match with a solo try from 65 meters out but Gonzalez scored a converted try to tie things up at full time.
The Lionesses would lose Janet Owino to injury minutes into extra time but were still able to conjure up the killer punch moments after the Argentines had conceded a rare penalty.
Celestine Masinde created the opportunity that found Remour in space to race clear and find the try line, setting up a repeat clash in the semi final against South Africa .
