Sikh seek late magic in relegation battle

Sikh Union face an uncertain future in the Kenya Hockey Union men’s Premier League after throwing a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Kenya Police in a mid-week clash at the City Park Stadium.

Sikh led 1-0, 2-1, 3-1 before a late surge from the law enforcers left them pegged second from bottom with nine points from 14 matches.

Peter Njoroge (21), Francis Esikuru (37) and Shabaz Ali (48) scored for Sikh, while Moses Cheplaiti (24) and Samson Kibirir scored a brace in the 53rd and 54th minutes for Police.

The cloud of relegation is weighing heavily on the shoulders of Parklands, who are placed bottom with seven points from 13 matches and Strathmore University who are third from bottom with 10 points from 13 matches.

Sikh captain Haggai Sikhila admitted the pressure to remain in the top tier was on their shoulders.

“We are doing everything possible to evade the cut when the season comes to an end. Going forward, with four matches to play we need to be clinical in front of goal," Sikhila said.

"In the match against Police, we had many chances but we never punished them and that’s something that we need to work on knowing very well the situation we are in currently,” added Sikhila.

GAP

Sikh will play Sailors, Strathmore, Western Jaguars and Greensharks in their last four matches.

Police failed to close gap on the top three teams.

With Wednesday result, Police remain fourth with 22 points from 13 matches, one shy of Greensharks although they have one match in hand.

Butali and Wazalendo occupy the first and second positions respectively with 36 and 29 points from 14 matches.

Police captain Oliver Echenje said although they had wanted a win, a point was not bad considering they came from behind to force a draw.