Mathare and Sony showed there is hope yet for Kenyan football

SuperSport commentator Dan Shikanda was right in his half-time assessment when he observed that viewers were fortunate to be watching a highly entertaining match featuring two sides committed to playing football the right way, on a near-perfect surface and in glorious sunshine.

The former Harambee Stars winger was speaking, of course, of the Kenyan Premier League match between Mathare United and Sony Sugar which preceded the high stakes Sofapaka and Gor Mahia clash.

The second match did not offer too much to write home about from a footballing perspective.

There was too much adrenaline flowing between both teams because the league title was on the line.

In many ways, it was like the tension-soaked Manchester United vs Chelsea later on Sunday night, a clash which was only absorbing because it was a tangle between giants which was riveting despite the fact the high stakes meant that the football on offer was not of the highest quality.

By contrast, Mathare and Sony showed that there is hope yet for Kenyan football if new coach Bobby Williamson is given time to build from the ground up now that Harambee Stars have been kicked out of the qualification races for every major championship.

Some of the link-up play in midfield and on the counter-attack in the first encounter in Machakos demonstrated that Kenyans can play football from the top drawer.

MATHARE SCORES
Whyvonne Isuza’s pass into the path of Edwin Ombasa which allowed Mathare to open the scoring was inch-perfect, weighted in a way that the striker only needed to find his angle without controlling the ball. He did that with some aplomb.

The penalty awarded against young defender Robinson Kamura was harsh. He clearly had no intention to handle the ball and it simply bounced off his foot onto his hand.

But the execution of Marwa Chamberi’s spot kick was outstanding. It reminded one of the great Italy and Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero whose every spot-kick would find the roof of the net.

He was composed and assured in a way that you rarely see in Kenyan football. There were bright patches all over the pitch on both sides.

Sylvester Wanyama marshalled the Sony defence expertly ahead of goalkeeper Lucas Indeche who also gave a good account of himself.

The darting runs of Daniel Mwaura were a joy to watch and Noah Abich was his usual useful presence, adding in an element of quality with an excellent free-kick which grazed the top of the cross-bar. Robinson Kamura was also very good.

For Sony, Chamberi excelled before fading in the second half although he should have done better with the wonderful 28th minute cross James Mwangi whipped into the box that took out the entire Mathare defence.

Both coaches, Zedekiah “Zico” Otieno for Sony and Mathare’s Stanley Okumbi deserve commendation for setting up their teams to play such good football in the right spirit and they showed what can be done at the national team level with good coaching and patient nurturing of talent.

The Machakos county authorities deserve commendation, too, for maintaining an excellent surface at their stadium and having the foresight to construct infrastructure which is bringing in thousands of fans to the town every other weekend.

Dan Shikanda is given to exaggeration sometimes, but he was right to say that it was a privilege to witness the Sony versus Mathare encounter which was a great advertisement for local football.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES
For the numerous conspiracy theories woven by Gor fans to explain the mayhem last weekend, we would also have to believe that the “hidden hand” behind the violence also arranged for Sofapaka to score the three goals which sent the stones flying.

Only very naïve people would buy such a theory. Gor fans need to look in the mirror and change their ways.

A loose meaning of the word impunity is a situation where one is exempt from punishment or enjoys freedom from the bad consequences of their actions.

There are few places in the world where two guys dressed in bibs (which means that they are in the stadium in an official capacity of sorts) can get away with punching a goalkeeper to the ground and then stamping on him in a match that is televised live.

OKELLO ATTACKED

News reporters should tell the public who the villains who attacked Sofapaka goalkeeper David Okello in the dying minutes of the top of the table encounter after Gor Mahia conceded the third are.

It is too easy to blame “hooligans” every time disgraceful scenes occur in a match.

Far better to identify, name, shame and in cases such as this, prosecute the people behind such assaults.

That will be one way of ensuring a football match is an event where families can go to enjoy their time and get some entertainment without having to prepare for the occasion as though they are going to war.