Ulinzi Stars, Sony Sugar shoot blanks in Awendo
Enosh Ochieng of Ulinzi Stars (right) vies with Ken Owino of Chemelil Sugar during their GOtv Shield at the Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on August 27, 2016. Ulinzi drew 0-0 with Sony Sugar in a KPL match on September 7, 2016 in Awendo. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH
What you need to know:
- The outcome leaves Ulinzi tied with Western Stima on 34 points while for Sony, it was their seventh draw of the season.
- The soldiers will now shift focus to a tricky weekend assignment against former champions Sofapaka.
Ulinzi Stars yet again dropped vital points in their bid to reclaim the Kenyan Premier League title after battling to a barren draw with Sony Sugar at the Awendo Green Stadium on Wednesday.
Prior to Wednesday’s draw, the soldiers had dropped points against Muhoroni Youth (1-1) and Posta Rangers (0-0) in their last two league outings.
Ulinzi, without their ailing head coach Robert Matano on the touchline, could, however, not put the ball at the back of the net in a tepid clash that presented few clear-cut chances for the soldiers.
Justine Monda presented Ulinzi with early problems running at their defence time and again. One such run resulted to a free kick after he was upended a few inches from the 18-yard area and up stepped his team mate Victor Ademba.
Ademba however failed to beat Ulinzi goalie James Saruni, only managing to shoot straight at the Kenyan international.
As Sony continued to cause trouble in the first half, Ulinzi’s frustrations were evident with defenders Hassan ‘Rio’ Mohamed and Geoffrey Kokoyo going into the referees’ book for poor tackles.
After the interval, Ulinzi assistant coach Benjamin Nyangweso made changes pulling out his lead striker John Mark Makwatta for Stephen Waruru but nothing yielded from their forays.
The outcome leaves Ulinzi tied with Western Stima on 34 points while for Sony, it was their seventh draw of the season.
The soldiers will now shift focus to a tricky weekend assignment against former champions Sofapaka.
