By Bonface Osano,
The Kenyan premier league has continued to excite with mix reactions witnessed over the weekend as the league table took its shape going into the mid-season break.
Gor Mahia remained firmly patched at the top of the log still unbeaten while Nakuru AllStars and City Stars despite remaining relentless in the matches remained rooted at the bottom of the table.
Western Stima 2-0 AFC Leopards
Super sub Victor Ochieng’s two beautiful strikes within two minutes in the second half were enough to bring to a holt AFC Leopards three match winning streak.
The Kenyan premier league match that was played on a rain soaked Kisumu’s Moi stadium on Saturday 23 lived up to it’s billing with both sides throwing anything and everything in the mix to emerge victorious, but it was buoyant Henry Omino tactics that carried the day.
“I have not lost to AFC Leopards since 1983, beating them is like a formality” Coach Omino boasted
The win lifted Stima to fourth on the log with 22 points as Ingwe dropped to fith with 21 points.
Tusker FC 2-1 SOFAPAKA
Sofapaka’s dominance over the Brewers continued as they extended their record of not loosing to them to 13 matches,after a clinical 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon in Ruaraka. The win pushed Sofpaka who popularly known as Batoto Ba Mungu to second in the log with nine points behind leaders Gor Mahia as Tusker dropped to seventh.
Ageless John Baraza opened scoring for the visitors from the spot early in the second half after James Situma handled the ball in the box before Stephen Wosu equalized for Tusker in the 60th minute opening his account at the Ruaraka based side, and scoring his first goal in KPL. Maurice Odipo bagged all the three points for Sofapaka in the 80th minute with a glancing header to silence the partisan Tusker crowd.
Tusker’s last win was against strugglers Nakuru All Stars early this month and they have since played three matches losing two on the trot.
Ulinzi Stars 1-1 City Stars
The soldiers let go of their lead to share spoils with strugglers City Stars on Saturday 23rd at the Afraha Stadium. The draw leaves the Soldiers sixth in the log with with 21 points having played a game less while City Stars is still languishing in the danger zone with a single win in 13 matches thus far.
Robert Mbugua draw matters level for the Kawangware based side in the dying minutes of the game to cancel out Oscar Wamalwa’s first half goal to the delight of coach Paul Nkata who is still trying to find his bearing in the 2015 season.
Muhoroni Youth 0-1 Gor Mahia
Gor Mahia extended their winning streak to 10 matches and their unbeaten run to 13 matches with a clinical 1-0 win over hard fighting Muhoroni Youth on Sunday 24th at the Kisumu Moi Stadium. K’Ogalo sits pretty at the top of the log with 33 points, nine clear of the second placed SOFAPAKA .
Mercurial Michael Olunga scored the lone goal in the 9th minute of the match capitalizing on Muhoroni Youth’s defense poor clearance of Collins Okoth’s floated ball into the box to send the packed stadium into a frenzy, the goal is Olunga’s 8th as he goes joint top in the scorers chart.
Muhoroni Youth Coach Francis Baraza blamed poor refereeing for the loss, “Today the referee
was biased towards Gor Mahia .
“He gave them every advantage and even that
goal came after a player Ali Abondo had handled
the ball. It clearly shows they are being favoured
and no wonder they struggle at continental
level.”
Muhoroni Youth poor start to the season that has seen them record just two wins in 13 matches continued as they remain 13th on the table with negative 11 goal difference.
Sony Sugar FC 0-1 Thika United
The Coach Tim Bryett charges bounced back to winning ways with a hard fought 1-0 win over hosts Sony in Awendo on Saturday 23rd. Kennedy Otieno’s goal in the 35th was the difference as the Thika based side carried home three vital points ending their two games losing record.
Thika is third in the log with 22 points while Sony is 11th with 15 points.
Ushuru FC 2-1 KCB FC
Moses Arita scored a brace to secure maximum points for the Ken Kenyatta coached side in a match played at Kasarani on Sunday 24th. Crispinas Onyango had given the Bankers the lead in the 30th minute and they were well on course for a second straight win but Ushuru came back stronger in the second half with Arita netting in the 64th minute and in the added minutes of the match to bag all the points.
Ushuru is 8th in the log with 19 points while KCB is still hovering just above the relegation zone.
Nakuru All Stars 2-2 Chemelil FC
The millers for the second time in the season blew away a two goals lead to settle for a draw in a match played at Afraha Stadium on Sunday 24th. Meshack Karani scored twice in either halves to give the millers two goals lead but All Stars late surge saw them claim a point with David Seda scoring in the 60th minute before Ochako Ongoro leveled matters in the 71st minute.
All Stars remain rooted at the bottom of the log while Chemelil is 13th.
Bandari FC 0-0 Mathare United
Mathare United held Bandari to a draw to record the only barren draw of the weekend in a match played at the Mumbasa Municipal stadium on Sunday.
Mathare United and Bandari are 9th and 10th in the log respectively.
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