Flat Tusker held by Ulinzi in Nakuru

Former league champions Tusker on Sunday settled for a goalless draw with Ulinzi Stars in a SportPesa Premier League match played at Nakuru’s Afraha Stadium.

Ulinzi Stars will have themselves to blame as they dominated possession and carved out sumptuous scoring opportunities that were never converted. The Soldiers laid siege on Tusker’s goal mouth but it seems they hald left live ammunition in the armoury as they failed to breach Tusker backline, with the woodwork coming to the rescue.

At half hour mark, Enosh Ochieng epitomized Ulinzi’s frustration in the afternoon when his rasping shot was parried away for a fruitless corner by Emery Emuyerure in Tusker’s posts. Six minutes later, a marauding Oliver Ruto made a brilliant run on the left flank before laying a neat pass for Ulinzi’s new siging John Kamau whose one time shot was stopped by the woodwork. John Njuguna should have put the soldiers ahead in 40th minute but his rising shot was again stopped by the crossbar.

Brian Birgen was next on the list of misses of the day when he surged forward in the 43rd minute, and like his other team mates missed a sitter when scoring was the easiest thing to do. Ochieng once again saw his glancing cannon off the crossbar on the stroke of halftime.

After halftime break, Tusker coach Robert Matano rested Amos Asembeka, John Kamau and Amin Muzerwa and introduced Michael Madoya, Kevin Obwaka and Sydney Ochieng’ but his striking force remained blunt.

On the opposite side, Dunstan Nyaudo brought in Mark Bikokwa and Elijah Mwanzia and rested John Njuguna and Elvis Nandwa but that did not change their tale of missed chances.

Against run of play, Tusker had the ball in the back of the net but assistant referee Godfrey Ndeva flagged Madoya for scoring in an offside position. That was the only real threat Tusker posed the whole afternoon while Ulinzi continued with their tale of missed chances at the other end.

A frustrated Nyaudo blamed lady luck for the missed opportunities. “Lady luck was not on our side today and Tusker should count themselves lucky for snatching a point from us,” he said.

Matano admitted that his charges were not at their level best in the match. “We did not play according to our usual game plan but I attribute this to injuries as some of our key players such as Boniface Muchiri and David Juma are still nursing injuries,” he said.

Tusker now rise to third on the log with 14 points after eight matches while Ulinzi remain rooted in 10th position with 10 points.