Isuza's late penalty rescues Ingwe

Whyvonne Isuza's 89th minute penalty salvaged a 1-1 draw for AFC Leopards against Kariobangi Sharks in a Kenyan Premier League match at the Thika Sub County-Stadium on Wednesday.

Francis Manoa had given Sharks the lead in the 77th minute with a brilliant header but they were unable to hold on to the three points as Ingwe rallied to share the spoils with a minute to play.

Overall, these two teams showed impressive commitment to win this match, but were hampered by a poor pitch which at times resembled a potato garden.

With outgoing coach Dennis Kitambi in charge of this contest as his successor Rodolfo Zapata watched the proceedings from the dugout, Leopards players had everything to play for in the wake of average returns in the recent past.

"We keep paying heavily for that occasional lapse at the back," Kitambi pointed out after the game.

"If we can reduce on some of these mistakes, then I'm confident the results will be better by far."

Manoa's goal came via a well timed header past a stranded Ezekiel Owade who was manning Leopards goal. The young forward was fed through by a well taken free kick off Patillah Omotto's boot.

But when Sharks thought they had done enough to win the match, Pascal Ogweno handled the ball in his own box leading to the penalty kick which Isuza did well to convert.

Prior to the goals, Leopards forward Brian Marita squandered arguably the biggest goal scoring opportunity of the opening half.

The attacker was fed through on goal by a teammate via a diagonal pass covering one side of the pitch from the other at the half hour mark.

But he would only fumble as he prepared to pull the trigger, allowing Sharks keeper Jeff Oyemba to recover and gather the ball from his knee.