Thika United 1-0 AFC Leopards: Shameful crowd violence scenes as Omondi strike stuns Ingwe
Frustrated AFC Leopards fans react after their team's 2-1 loss to Bandari at Mbaraki Sports Club in a past match. FILE PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT |
What you need to know:
- The match was stopped twice because of violent conduct from the stands.
Home side Thika United edged out AFC Leopards 1-0 in a match blighted by violent conduct from Ingwe fans.
The stadium was reduced to a battle field as police officers engaged AFC Leopards yobs in running battles as their team trailed hosts Thika United 1-0 in a the tension-filled match.
Teargas fumes filled the air as helpless players and journalists suffered collateral damage from the mayhem.
The stadium in the end became a rescue ground as players, ball boys, journalists and television production crew lay on the ground in a desperate bid to escape the choking fumes.
The match was stopped twice because of violent conduct from the stands.
Until things degenerated to the ugly scenes, the absorbing duel had otherwise lived to its billing and it was Thika’s upcoming forward Ray Omondi who crushed the hopes of the travelling AFC fans scoring a beautiful goal in the 39th minute.
Omondi, drove forward with the ball before looping the ball past Leopards’s newly signed goalkeeper Lucas Indeche to score into the empty net. It was one of those goals that are hard to come by in the KPL.
CRISIS DEEPENS
This was Leopards first match in the second round of matches, but seemingly, their problems are far from over.
Coach Zdravko Logarusic could not raise 18 players needed for this match as per the Fifa statues, and had to do with just three reserve players in Emmanuel Ngama,Ali Kesi and Dennis Dodi.
It evoked memories of their clash with Sofapaka at the Nyayo National Stadium when striker Karim Ndugwa had to be deployed as a makeshift goalkeeper as the other custodians Wycliffe Kasaya and Joel Bataro had failed to honour the match protesting failure by the club to settle the playing unit salary arrears.
