Stima, Nzoia play out four-goal thriller

What you need to know:

  • Stima's steel defence denied the visitors an opportunity a few minutes later as both team continued to press for more goals.
  • A confusion at the stroke of halftime almost cost Nzoia when they failed to clear a delivery from a corner-kick. With goalkeeper Mangala already beaten from the melee, the ball rolled to the wrong direction of a waiting yellow shirt to the relief of the Bungoma-based side.

Western Stima moved to position three in the SportPesa Premier League after playing out a 2-2 draw with Nzoia Sugar at Moi Stadium in Kisumu on Sunday.

Prior to today's game, the power men were ranked position four on 14 points same as Kariobangi Sharks that were placed third due to a superior goal difference.

The draw takes Stima's points tally to 15, while Nzoia are on nine points.

Vincent Odongo set Stima on the recovery path from last weekend's 2-1 away loss to Sharks with an early finish, but Stephen Etiyang struck a few minutes later to cancel the effort.

Goalkeeper Samuel Odhiambo restored the hosts' lead from the spot early in the second half, before Jackson Ojwang levelled the scores for Nzoia from another penalty late in the second half.

Stima dictated the early minutes of play and almost took the lead in the 10th minute from Laban Gambareko's rebound inside the box, before Thomas Wainaina drew the hosts' goalkeeper Odhiambo into action for the first time from a free-kick a few minutes later.

Odongo placed the power men ahead in the 13th minute with a rebound from a poor clearance by Nzoia players inside the box.

However, the celebration was short lived as an unmarked Etiyang shook Stima's net seven minutes later when he paced to connect to Patrick Otieno's cross from the left, the forward beating goalkeeper Odhiambo with a low finish to the left side of the goalpost.

Looking to restore their lead, the hosts pilled pressure on Nzoia, winning three successive corner kicks in the half-hour, but goalkeeper Benson Mangala was alert and saved the visitors from going down again.

Stima's steel defence denied the visitors an opportunity a few minutes later as both team continued to press for more goals.

A confusion at the stroke of halftime almost cost Nzoia when they failed to clear a delivery from a corner-kick. With goalkeeper Mangala already beaten from the melee, the ball rolled to the wrong direction of a waiting yellow shirt to the relief of the Bungoma-based side.

The second half saw Nzoia winning two early corner-kicks which they failed to convert, as Mangala also denied Stima from Henry Onyango's close-range finish.

Hansel Ochieng was unlucky not to fire Nzoia ahead in the 57th minute, when his clever header hit the cross-bar for a throw-in in favour of Stima, before his compatriot Robert Arrot wasted a glorious opportunity a few minutes later.

Goalkeeper Odhiambo opened his account this season and restore the hosts' lead in the 68th minute from the spot kick after a Nzoia player handled the ball inside the box.

Odhiambo beat his opposite number Mangala with a low finish to the left, leaving a handful of Stima fans, who had turned up at the stadium, on their feet.

But, the same predicament befell the power men in the 81st minute when Nzoia were awarded a penalty after Kevin Akongo handled the ball inside his danger area.

Ojwang beat custodian Odhiambo with a cool high finish to level the score and set a last minute showdown.

Stima were forced to be alert in the dying minutes to avoid falling to their second defeat of the season as Nzoia went in search of a winner.