Misfiring Mathare hold AFC Leopards at Kasarni

AFC Leopards were lucky to escape with a draw from Wednesday evening's SportPesa Premier League contest against Mathare United at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.

Leopards were clearly second best in most spells of this exciting game, which was one of the three mid-week league assignments lined up on the day.

In contrast, the Slum boys - donning the trademark all-yellow attire - settled in almost instantly.

Francis Kimanzi's team would go on to orchestrate the first real chance of the game, via John Mwangi's fierce shot from just outside the box.

Luckily for Leopards, custodian Ian Otieno was equal to the task, and opted to parry the shot for a fruitless corner.

Again, Mathare curved chance number two, seven minutes later.

This time, an interplay from midfield involving Tyson Otieno and Chrispin Oduor resulted in Elijah Mwanzia being played through on goal.

Before the forward could pull the trigger however, Musa Mudde intervened, courtesy of a sliding tackle that ensured the ball was cleared to safety.

"We took time to settle. My players looked jaded, maybe because we played in a very tough game over the weekend. I had planned for the three points wanted, but we ended up not losing which is also good," Leopards coach Robert Matano explained after the match.

Leopards' Burundian forward Alexis Kitenge had a sniff on goal midway through the opening half, but his first time shot failed to trouble Mathare's impressive goalkeeper Levis Opiyo.

In the second half, Leopards supporters at the venue looked restless as Mathare raided their team's goal almost at will. At some point, the anxiety turned into frustration as a section of the fans based at the centre stand turned on each other in a fist fight. It required the attention of the attention of the armed security personnel to pull the apart.