Gor Mahia bounces back

Gor Mahia returned to the top of the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) table after battling to a 0-0 draw against a physical Ulinzi Stars at the Nairobi City Stadium Wednesday.

The barren draw in the ill-tempered mid-week clash saw Gor dislodge Sofapaka from the top just a week after surrendering the lead.

Gor are now on 44 points, one better than the ‘Batoto Ba Mungu’ who last won the title in 2009.

Ulinzi finished the match with 10 men after skipper Stephen Ocholla was sent to the lockers in the 70th minute for a second bookable offence.

Playing on a yellow card he had earlier earned due to a rushed tackle, the midfielder found himself in the thick of things when he kicked the ball into Gor’s net when centre referee Amos Ichingwa had blown the whistle for offside. It was Ocholla’s failure to obey Ichingwa’s call that got him sent off.

ULINZI PROTESTED DECISION

Ulinzi players protested the move, crowding around the centre referee and leading to stoppage of play for five minutes before an inconsolable Ocholla was led to Ulinzi’s van.

The match was expected to be explosive and it lived to its billing with tough tackles in both halves.

K’Ogalo, without suspended vice-captain David ‘Calabar’ Owino, saw coach Frank Nuttall partner Musa Mohamed with the towering Harun Shakava at the heart of defence while Simon Pierre and Kevin Oluoch played as fullbacks, allowing Godfrey Walusimbi to continue with his forays on the left wing, a role he performed efficiently against Tusker on Sunday.

Clear-cut chances were few and far between in the early exchanges until the 36th minute when Daniel Onyango picked out the  enterprising  Timothy Otieno with a neatly  executed through pass, but the latter failed to find the net.

After the breather, Nuttall brought in former international Patrick Oboya for Onyango and the left-footed Oboya came close at the hour mark after Dan Sserunkuma traded passes with Walusimbi who in turn set up Oboya but Saruni was alert in Ulinzi’s goal.

The soldiers will take positives from the contest. Despite playing the final quarter with a man down, they defended well, with Mohamed Hassan standing out at the back.

“It was a good match but the officiating was very suspicious. It came as no surprise because the referee has always been biased against my team,” Ulinzi coach Robert Matano said after the match.

“We will continue to fight on to the end. We will not give up because we need more points,” he added.