Bandari maintain top spot with Nzoia win

Bandari remained top of the SportPesa Premier League with a 1-0 win over Nzoia Sugar at Mbaraki Sports Club on Saturday.

Skipper Felly Mulumba led from the front converting from the spot in the early exchanges to secure the win for his side.

But the Dockers should count themselves lucky for the visitors failed to convert their chances.

Bandari assistant coach Nassoro Mwakoba admitted they were not at their best despite picking three points.

“We’ve to accept that it was a difficult game but we are happy that we got an early goal and our players managed to defend until the final whistle,” said Mwakoba.

He dispelled talk of fatigue pointing out that all teams have been playing on a tight schedule.

“It was not our day really but the most important thing is that we collected maximum points,” added Mwakoba who also thanked their supporters for cheering the boys to victory.

Nzoia Sugar's Vincent Sifuna blamed poor officiating for the loss in his first match as head coach.

“The referee should have awarded at least one penalty if not two,” he said.

The game started at a cracking pace with Nzoia having an upper hand but missed two chances in the first two minutes.

Bandari got their only goal in the seventh minute when Yema Mwana was fouled inside the box and Mulumba made no mistake sending Nzoia goalkeeper Benson Mangala the wrong way.

From then on, Nzoia looked the better side but they failed to score. Their best chance was in the 11th minute when Patrick Otieno sent a powerful shot past Farouk Shikhalo but Bernard Odhiambo cleared on the goal line.

In the second half, the visitors continued to pile pressure but Bandari defenders worked tirelessly to protect the slim advantage.