Beating Esperance isn’t something new to Gor

Greetings from Accra, Ghana! Congratulations are due to Gor Mahia for romping into the next stage of the CAF Champions League.

Those miserable chaps calling themselves Leones Vegetarianos of Equatorial Guinea fell to the K’Ogalo sword, with our glamour boys sailing through on a 3-1 aggregate.

We had whipped them 2-0 at our new home ground in Machakos before forcing a 1-1 draw away in Malabo.

Those who attended the return leg swear that the scoreline would have been bigger in our favour save for the opponent’s goalkeeper who really earned his keep on that Wednesday afternoon.

Doesn’t matter. Of importance is that we passed the stage where men were sorted out from the boys and now we are facing Esperance of Tunisia.

Gor Mahia will host the first leg tie on March 6 with the reverse fixture planned for 10 days later in Tunis.

I have followed both in the mainstream and social media prophets of doom predicting that the Tunisians will bundle us out of the competition.

I beg to differ. As I said in this column last Monday, I belong to the group of latter day Green Army saints who are staunch defenders of the K’Ogalo faith which states that on a good day Gor Mahia can beat any team in the world. And yes, this includes Esperance.

I am alive to the fact that our outing against the Tunisians four years ago was a nightmare. I am also alive to the fact that it is the very Esperance we walloped when we won the Nelson Mandela Cup in 1987.

If it could happen in 1987 it can happen in 2018. So just believe, you of little faith! Having said that, Saturday I was part of the small band of Gor supporters who turned up at the iconic Camp Toyoyo grounds when we were held to a one-all draw by Zambian giants Nkana Red Devils.

Away from the match, what impressed me most was the camaraderie I witnessed among the club officials. This is important to point out because the stories that have been doing rounds gave a picture of a bunch of clueless officials pulling in different directions.

This reached fever pitch especially after the Vegetarianos match in Machakos when a public spat erupted especially between the two iron ladies in Gor management- Organising secretary Judith Nyangi and treasurer Sally Bolo.

Even the secretary general Ben Omondi was not spared with some calling him the worst SG Gor Mahia has ever had.

Be that as it may, what I saw on Saturday was a team that is bonding well. I saw chairman Ambrose Rachier cracking jokes with his fellow officials and fans alike.

This is how it is supposed to be. When we elected the officials to run our beloved club we expected nothing less than a team working in synchronized harmony to take our club to even greater heights.

Ego and other personal interest are supposed to be subsumed into the greater good of the club.