Gor Mahia held by Sofapka 3-3
Gor Mahia gave away a 2 goal lead and ended up drawing 3-3 with Sofapaka at Machakos on Sunday.
Additional reporting from the Nation
Rwandese Meddie Kagere, Bernard Ondieki and Innocent Wafula scored a goal apiece for K’Ogalo, but Kepha Aswani sparked the Sofapaka renaissance as Ezekiel Okare managed a brace to guarantee their team one point from the game.
Kagere’s strike in the 10th minute was a happy accident, as he blindly tapped the ball with the side of his foot in an attempt to lay it properly for Ivorian Ephrem Guikan, but it deflected into the net much to his joyful surprise.
Ondieki doubled matters for the champions just 24 minutes later by guiding a header past Sofapaka custodian Mathias Kigonya.
Sofapaka defender Yusuf Mohammed had intended to clear a dangerous ball from the right, but it flew into the air and Ondieki, who was acquired from Western Stima in December last year, leapt just in time to meet it and send it home.
Sofapaka coach John Baraza responded by withdrawing Humphrey Okoti seven minutes before the end of the first half and replacing him with deadly striker Stephen Waruru in a bid to rescue his team from an impending embarrassment.
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Aswani pulled one back for Batoto ba Mungu in the 51st minute, prompting K’Ogalo to work even harder to safeguard their lead.
The visitors kept it late, but a defensive mishap in the 85th minute saw their patience pay off. Harun Shakava and goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch had both left their areas of jurisdiction, and Okare easily headed home a long ball from the middle, leaving Shakava guiltily running after it in what was an exercise in futility.
It didn’t take two minutes for Sofapaka to inflict pain again, and it was Okare once more who scooped the ball and sent a thunderbolt into the top left corner.
Gor however responded promptly through Innocent Wafula who made the most of a goalmouth melee to deliver the equaliser in stoppage time.
Reality check and good dose for Kerr and his players. This team is just average within the local standards and we should chest thumping and over rating the boys.
@Ogango Trailer, it now official that the players have become Kerr’s players…Hehehehe
Ker had forewarned us that the entire team is down with flu. A good performance by Cercidy Okeyo. The guy is coming up steadily.
These draws , draws, and draws will come to haunt Gor seriously. Sare , sare, sare, everyday? tutajuta. We are throwing away all the advantages we had gathered in terms of matches to be played, by the time we have played same number of matches with our competitors we will be ‘Sare , sare’/ “draw, draw” with them in points as well. @ Jasego tafakari hayo.
Hehe jamriambo unbeaten karibu itekwe nyara na Sofapaka leo…Read my in-depth analysis below owadwa
Phew, congrats for the never say die spirit that saw us through. Players could be suffering a early burnout but things may even be worse especially with the “irrelevant/ unnecessary” SportPesa competition in June18 and friendly matches. EC get the priorities right it’s CAF, league, shield cup, CECAFA. Against Smeow started the match well but faded constantly as the game progressed, was it fatigue? First our midfield lost it, then the defense collapsed, as erratic Boni continued blow hot and cold. Forget this fallacy that we have depth, i echo @OT & Co, we need to strenghten all departments- GK, central defence, attacking midfielders and strikers. Gulkan was simply unlucky but he continues to impress at the very least he makes opposing GKs work.
Boniface Oluoch pliz respect the jersey you wear,why do you lose hope and let easy goals in without much saving effort?Be as it may that the blunder originated from defense,is it not your duty to try save it then scold them later?Shakava i hear you are being monitored by Hull City scouts,Please pray that they dont look at today’s video coz it will mess you up.My esteemed Coach Kerr 3-5-2 formation can’t work with likes of Onguso plying attacking left it requires more attack minded dribblers as it is an offensive formation.Secondly coach why you substituted my Man of the Match Benard Ondieki who was running our midfield show in Kahata’s absence while leaving Cersidy only God knows.Sofapaka played better today and such is soccer but we made too many mistakes from losing shape in midfield to defense collapsing to keeper deciding to sleep.I agree the draws are very worrying and we better remedy them sooner,they cost Ze Maria the 2016 title
Also june is hear,Oduor12 deems to disagree but i have always brought in what i believe GM lacks and we have titles to show for it.Coach Kerr will sign and approve but either case i will avail Messrs: Eric Marcelo Ouma,Aboud Omar,Musa Mohammed,Ovella Ochieng and Solomon Mensah Ratego for him to chose signings from.I believe they are all Top Class.Finally Coach Kerr at times learn to take what the gods give you-We were down today while Sofapaka were clearly on the ascendancy,as such defensive minded subs to cut off their strengths and render them ineffective would have been advisable even at the expense of parking the proverbial bus we could be having 3 vital points gained.We are busy continentally and therefore locally we just need to do enough for 3 points in each game.Today we were 2-0 up and tactical acumen of Power Play and defensive mindedness would have seen us win.Congrats all though coz we still unbeaten but we must be ready for Tough Times that are yet to Come…
This is fatigue, period. Can we keep off any unnecessary matches and concentrate only on what matters. Otherwise the burnout will be too much on the team and it’s clearly already showing, the trend is we dominate the first few minutes of the match and then tire out and our opponents have known that
Our opponents know us inside out because they have ample time to study every game match that we play in our very busy schedule. On the contrary we are so preoccupied with the tight schedule that we have no time to study our local opponents and know their strengths and weaknesses. In today’s match Sofaka was technically superior because they knew our game through and through whereas we didn’t know what to expect from them.
I have warned about chest thumping but very little is being done. trust me, it will come to haunt us both in CAF and now in the league, where performance has obviously begin to deteriorate. ….The question is , mentally, physically and tactically are we really that good to conquer Africa ? i still highly doubt
Nevertheless today i also had the privilege to share my thoughts with the transfer wheeler deelers at the club and it is very true….a ruthless striker is desperately needed like yesterday and the cheque book is wide open.
A few potential strikers names have been suggested but will they join and at whose expense ? –
Getaneh kabede – Dedebit Ethiopia
Ernest sugira – APR
Milton karissa – Vipers
Junior Makiesse – AC leopards
Ovella Ochieng – K sharks
Jackie if I may quote you, “I have warned about chest thumping but very little is being done.”… what else could have been done at this point in time before the transfer window opens? Perhaps we should fold our arms across our chests lest they hang loose and inadvertently thump the chest. Patience guys. The window is just two weeks away.
The names being floated are enticing. I would give anything to have Marcelo back. Musa too and EC should do everything to bring Musa back home. Ovella and Sugira are both very good. Just don’t know how possible it is to get Sugira. So we go for Ovella and Solomon Mensah to reinvigorate the midfield. I doubt if a top class Ethiopian can play in our domestic league these days.
Everyone has a price tag they can’t say ‘no’ to.
Jakoyo just strike Ernest Sugira off that list the guy suffered a broken metatarsal injury last year May after coming home from Congo and has been inactive ever since.He has had two surgeries and has rivets still in his leg.,which K’Ogalo can he come to?Also Ovella Ochieng is a done deal as he is local and wants out of Kariobangi Sharks.Those other striker wa Ethopia na Uganda cannot make it we need Continental Stalwarts not average sufferers.Junior Makiese of AC Leopards is a Boy Wonder being eyed by TP Mazembe but if he can come i suggest we seriously consider signing him.Which foreign playrr gives way though i leave to powers that be since an ahero jotugo Mayienga Tee…
Boniface Oluoch has become the Joe Hart of Gor.Too much self belief,overconfident and the big man syndrome. The guy can rarely ‘die’ for the team nowadays and lacks the inward drive and thirst to make crucial saves. Fatigue, Fatigue, Fatigue! But does the keeper also get tired?
It was clear Sofapaka had a strategy and their strategy worked. Their two substitutes made the difference. Conceding three goals all in the second half is just too much anyway congrats boys for maintaining the unbeaten record.
Thanks it was not Jerry,if it were the guy could have received all sorts of abuse here,have said it time and again we need a goalkeeper Oluoch is so erratic and has become predictable,why expose your that way,he did it in ruanda and he keeps on repeating the same mistake every time.
Not sure if t’s fatigue but from yesterday’s game Sofa were always forward-looking when the have the ball yet our players could hold the ball unnecessarily or even lose it. Too many missed passed was our undoing. I realized that we have the strikers (though no problem adding one ) but the problem is the feed from the midfield to the same strikers.
USM almost killed us with their cross balls, why don’t our players do that yet we have lethal forwards upfront.
This weekend we meet Ingwe . Let’s see what happens. They won after seven attempts so their confidence is high. How about ours?
Dan you are right. No crosses. I the quality crosses by Marcelo and Nzigiyimana during the Nuttal days. This is why Marcelo should be convinced to come back. Onguso is trying but not good enough. The only reliable crosser currently is Walusimbi. With Karim and Wellington absent, then no crosses from the right wing.
If Wafula could be crossing early into the box then we could have scored some three or four goals in the second half. On at least three occasions, he made one touch too many when a one touch early cross was the better option and by the time he finally crossed, the box was already crowded with defenders.
What we witnessed is what I had in mind in my last post before that game when I said that we need to do some mid season stock taking and that the other squad members to grab this opportunity afforded them to proove to the whole fraternity that they are worthy of a k’galo membership , an added incentive to the whole mix was the presence of the National team , Did these guys rise to the occasion ? .
I watched the Nakumatt game before then and their performance was much better than our , tactically and technically .
Boniface Oluoch as usual made very good saves but is becoming too frequent , his erratic nature soon set in and it is becoming apparent that the guy has become too comfortable .
I am sorry to say this , but to me Wafula lacks the sense of situational awareness , his decision making is very poor , doesnt know when to run , to hold , to dribble and to cross and by the time he does whatever he has decided to do ,the opponents have already gotten back to shape and our hitherto attack has collapsed .
Our midfield was totally shambolic , not closing in the opponents , allowing them time to pick their mates either through the centre or to the wings where Onguso was completely missing , the centre backs were totally not in sync , poor communication , poor coordination, a combination of these causing as the goals we conceded .
Overally , apart from two three players on the pitch , the rest were completely a no show , an erratic goalkeeper , a poor defence , non creative midfield and a now perpetual misfiring Guikan .
What we saw on Sunday is the depth we have and since we are approaching the June recruitment window , we must have this conversation , our depth is simply average or below it .
Lastly I have always taken it for granted that for one to be a player of K’galo status , one must be able to control the ball as a basic requirement , how the hell does a seemingly harmless ball end up becoming a 50-50 ball ?
Poor display on Sunday to say the least and please let as not overuse this word called Fatigue . . .Please
Teddy this time round it was flu, not fatigue.
Mashemeji Derby Called off by FKF
The much-awaited Mashemeji Derby between arch rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards will not take place this Saturday, says Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa.
The pronouncement is set to rub Kenyan Premier League on the wrong part as the league runners grapple with accumulated fixtures with barely four months to the end of the season.
Gor Mahia, who have four games at hand to play in the first leg were set to be hosted at Bukhungu Stadium that was to host its first derby since the facelift done at the facility, but Mwendwa ‘cancelled’ that match.
But Mwendwa rubbished the idea of taking the derby to Kakamega, insisting that the game must be played at Kasarani.
The FKP supremo said that Bukhungu is too small to host a high calibre game like the Mashemeji Derby.
FKF said that Harambee Stars coach Sebastian Migne had requested for the postponement of the derby to allow the national team takes part in the two upcoming friendly matches against Equatorial Guinea and Swaziland.
Gor Mahia has seven players in the national team and Migne said that there is no way he will play the two games without K’Ogalo players.
Mwendwa on the other hand, insisted that the national team friendlief will not be called off and that the Derby must pave way for Harambee Stars.
Nick Mwendwa please please GM players have flu and are fatigued with congested fixtures and continental assignments that yourself refused to help us when we were suffering without a sponsor almost missing to travel.Now those two friendlies coupled with the 4 Nation jndian tournament in Mumbai are all outside the Fifa Calendar.As such we are not obliged to honour them risking injuries and more fatigue to our players.Kindly replace the 7 GM players with Sofapaka players who played quite well yesterday.We need the deserved rest Tafadhali…
Right on point…sofa are so fresh ..kogalo needs rest..period!
Maybe Nick thinks that fans will fill the pitch for HS the way they did for Gor/Hull game. No way. This was a chance for HS to check their depth without Gor/AFC players. After this then we have the SportsPesa tournament. To make it worse the next competitive game for HS is in September.
hehehe.. breaking! all harambee stars bound kogallo players are down with the infamous FLU !
Flu is a communicable viral infection that is transmitted through contact such as handshake or touching surfaces and objects that have been touched by an infected person. Now Nick Mwendwa should remember that players have to handle the ball at one time or another. That ball will be contaminated. Someone should advise Nick Mwendwa not to take the risk.
Gor Mahia players should not be in the national team camp otherwise the rest of the Kenya squad will catch the flu.
Hehehe. We seem to be a chameleon club. We change colour according to the environment. When we play against an international opponent, we play like an international club (remember our good games against Everton, Hull and USM). When we play a local team in the local league, we play like a typical local club.
Sir Kerr is no doubt a good coach. He is probably among the few best in Kogallo’s history. But I have only one beef with him. There is this saying; “The best way to defend is to attack”. I think he takes this saying literally and religiously. When you get an early 2 goals lead, park the bus bwana…..or even the train if need be. Kwani iko nini? Mabao hayapelekwi sokoni! Nkt.
We need a striker who can shoot with both feet and head. Physically imposing and strong. One lethal striker is all we need