Modern Coast stun wasteful Shabana

Visiting Modern Coast Rangers edged Shabana 1 -0 in an entertaining Betika Super League (BSL) match at Gusii Stadium on Saturday.

Juma Bakari came off the bench to hand the Mombasa-based side maximum points in the 71st minute against the run of play.

Following the loss, Shabana are ranked 10th while Modern Coast Rangers are 15th.

Rangers coach Mohamed Muchula praised his boys for bagging three points despite being underdogs.

“Shabana dominated the game in first half but we managed to stay put and control the pressure. In second half, I brought in my two strikers and my tactic worked. Winning away is a challenge especially when playing teams that have huge followings like Shabana,” said Muchula.

Shabana coach Vincent Nyaberi blamed his wasteful strikers for the defeat.

“Football is a game of chances and you saw what happened today, they created only one chance and they punished us. My strikers need to convert their chances and we will work on this in training,” said Nyaberi.

Shabana were left to lick their wounds at full time after their strikers hit the woodwork thrice in a match that was well attended by their fans.

Earlier on in the first half, Modern Coast had lost their first choice goalkeeper Abdulhaman Mwinyi in the 32nd minute after he sustained a knee injury.

He was replaced by Daniel Odhiambo who pulled a number of saves including parrying Victor Matete’s free kick from outside the box in the 82nd minute.

After going down, Nyaberi introduced new signing Ashif Obwaka for Samwel Barasa in the 76th minute but there was no respite.

Modern Coast host Vihiga Bullets in their next match on Saturday while Shabana will travel to Nakuru to face St Joseph's.