USA veteran Baker breaks Kenyan hearts as Shujaa chase win in Dubai 7s

NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 3 – USA veteran Perry Baker broke Kenyans hearts after coming off the bench to dot down a match winning try at the second leg of HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai on Friday handing the Americans a 24-21 victory.

The result left Shujaa winless in Pool B after two matches following the 21-14 defeat to Australia in the opener and are now left with a must win match against Canada in the final group match to hope and qualify as one of the best third placed team.

Against Mike Friday’s USA, Shujaa were on track for a win after Alvin Marube was gifted his first try of the season by skipper Nelson Oyoo with the third try coming in seconds to full time as Kenya were destined for a 21-19 victory.

However, Baker erased that important try after coming off the bench to cut off Kenya’s jubilation by making good use of his speed to receive an offload from a scrum and dot down USA’s fourth try to add on Kevon Williams double and Steve Tomasin try.

Kenya, who had a shaky first half, conceding a try straight from kick-off that was taken by Tony Omondi, got its other tries from Herman Humwa and seasonal Billy Odhiambo.

The Innocent Simiyu coached side are trying to get their rhythm and groove back after undergoing a transition that saw young and in experienced players given more playtime to fill in the shoes of the likes of veteran Andrew Amonde who retired from international duty, Kenya’s all-time leading try scorer Collins Injera, Sammy Oliech, Dennis Ombachi, Oscar Ouma and Willy Ambaka among others.