photo courtesy of gormahia.net
By Fredrick Naduli,
With Kenya’s representatives in continental competitions both eliminated,TPL action entered week 5 today with 3 fixtures on the cards,all outside Nairobi,but both Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards must wait till Sunday to get their campaigns back on track.Leopard’s woes were further deepened in midweek,falling to Muhoroni Youth away,to slide into the relegation zone.
They face Sofapaka tomorrow in Machakos,themselves still reeling from defeat by Chemelil Sugar last weekend.Gor welcome log leaders Western Stima who have quickly adapted to life under returning tactician Henry Omino.Bobby Williamson has
urged his charges to put behind them their champions league nightmare and refocus on the local scene.
SONY SUGAR 2-0 KRA
High flying KRA travelled to Awendo to face the sugarmen on the backdrop of a gritty victory,their second in the top flight,with Sony Sugar expected to burst their bubble.Zedekia Otieno’s men havent played for a fortnight and came into this fixture the fresher side.
Goalkeeper Lucas Indeche,after getting a lot of stick for some shaky perfomances at Thika Utd. last season,is finally proving his critics wrong.He has not conceded a goal so far.He was at full stretch to parry away Barack Odhiambo’s curler on 16 minutes.At the other end,Marwa Chamberi’s darting runs caused the taxmen defence some consternation.
His rebound shot on 26 minutes found Edwin Oduor who fired Sony into the lead.KRA lost their rythm and worse was to follow before the break when a schoolboy error by Phillip Odhiambo in goal gifted the hosts a second.
In an attempt to play the ball out to receive medical attention,he threw the ball onto the path of Naftali Okombo who duly
punished him.KRA thought they would benefit in the spirit of fairplay but referee Amos Wanjala allowed the goal to stand.The Nairobi side fell to pieces and were never able to assert themselves in the second half.
BANDARI 1-2 THIKA UTD
Coach John Kamau was at the Ruaraka stadium to watch Tusker beat Bandari last week and definitely picked a few vital points,if the result of this match played in Mbaraki is anything to go by.Bandari were left fuming at the officiating in the Tusker loss and came into this match eager to outsmart Thika,if only to placate their demanding fans.
They have lost thrice in four outings and Twahir Muhiddin read the riot act to his boys.Thika could not have come at a worse
time.They started forcefully and junior international Mike Olunga put them ahead with a fine solo effort on 14 minutes.The Brookeside sponsored side doubled their advantage ten minutes later,captain Dennis Odhiambo dispatching away a penalty kick after Wilson Obungu brought down Wycliff Opondo.Bandari halved the deficit with a penalty of their own,Ali Bhai making no mistake after Abdalla Mwachiponi was tripped in the area.
ULINZI STARS 0-0 MATHARE
In Nakuru the battle was between two tacticians both schooled in the Dutch school of thought.Salim Ali and Stanley Okumbi are graduates of the Royal Netherlands Football Ass. academy.Salim,formely Okumbi’s senior at Mathare United has never beaten his former side since joining the Army side.In the last two years both teams have perfected the art of drawing,and many pundits predicted the same result coming into this fixture.
They were right.The result will have pleased the slum boys while Salim Ali will be left scratching his head;the
soldiers recording their 5th straight draw.
SUNDAY
In other fixtures tomorrow KCB host Tusker in an early kickoff at the City stadium,Chemelil Sugar welcome whipping boys Top Fry Allstars while Muhoroni Youth will be seeking to continue their resurgence when they play host to City Stars.
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