By Samuel Gacharira,
League leaders Gor Mahia have a chance to extend their lead at the summit of the KPL log when they host 13th placed Bandari at the City Stadium in a tie that has all the potential to be explosive. The two sides have met a total of 7 times. One of those ties ended in a barren draw while the other six have been equally shared between both teams as they have won three apiece.
The last time Bandari savored victory was way back in July when they beat Muhoroni 1-0 at home. Nairobi has been a bad hunting ground for them since they have lost 2 out of 3 ties that they have played in the city. The 0-0 draw against AFC Leopards at Nyayo Stadium in July is the only decent result they have recorded in Nairobi during the second leg of the league.
On the other hand, Gor Mahia are unbeaten at home in the second leg. However, K’Ogalo will be wary of this side that has improved every time they play at the City Stadium. In 2009, Gor won 2-0 at home, in 2011 Gor won 1-0, last season in a similar tie they drew 0-0.Fast forward to this season, in the first leg tie played at Mombasa Gor lost the same tie 2-1.
Frank Nuttal will be hoping his team will pick up from where they left and improve on the 2-0 drubbing of Chemelil Sugar. A win will give them a four point cushion and ensure they have one hand on the league crown. Dan Sserunkuma is one man the Bandari defense have to look out for if he carries his scoring form into this match. He is the current top scorer in the league with 12 goals.
A win will help Bandari steady their sinking ship. Having drawn 4 of their last 5 games, they know that anything less than three points from this tie will do more harm than good to them. However they have to address their blunt attack and porous defense going into this game. Coach Twahir Muhiddin insists that relegation is not an option to consider and underlines the importance of treating each of the remaining matches as a final ad this one is no exception.
It will be interesting to see how the Green Army will welcome back ex-K’Ogalo loanee Shaban Kenga who they had nicknamed “touchscreen” due to his deft touches. He will play against his former teammates for the first time since he left Gor Mahia in the June transfer window.
One thing is for certain and that is he will have to forget friendships and focus on the job at hand which is delivering 3 points for Bandari.
