Sofapaka leave it late to hold Vihiga

Sofapaka were forced to dig deep for a point after holding hosts Vihiga United to a 1-1 draw in a SportPesa Premier League (SPL) match at the Bukhungu Stadium on Sunday.

Substitute Umaru Kasumba was the hero for Batoto Ba Mungu equalising at the death to cancel out Amos Kigadi's 67th minute goal.

Sofapaka tactician Medo Melis spoke glowingly of the Ugandan forward for salvaging a point.

“This is unbelievable, the goal was fantastic. The forward knew when to strike and he did it at the right time,” said an elated Melis.

Vihiga United coach Mike Mururi decried the concentration lapse that denied them maximum points.

“That's the nature of football. We had bagged maximum points but a small defensive blunder cost us the match," he noted.

The match started on a high tempo with both sides going for an early goal.

Kigadi could have handed his side the lead as early as the fifth minute but his shot was comfortably saved by Justine Ndikumana in the Sofapaka goal.

Sofapaka conjured up a well co-ordinated counter attack involving John Avire, Michael Odour and Elly Asieche but they were thwarted by a strong defence led by Vihiga captain Bernard Ochieng'.

After a barren first half, both teams came into the second half breathing fire with Vihiga’s Mike Isabwa hitting the cross bar after beating Brian Magonya to the ball.

Melis introduced Kasumba for Kepha Aswani in the 47th minute but it was Vihiga who found the breakthrough.

Stephen Wakhanya played Kigadi clean through on goal and the striker unleashed a powerful shot into the roof for the opener.

Mururi replaced Isabwa with Alex Mbuva to defend his slim advantage but it was all in vain as Kasumba capitalized on a defensive lapse to draw level deep in stoppage time.