Reigning league champions Gor Mahia ended their wretched run of seven games without a win by trouncing form team Kakamega Homeboyz 1-0 courtesy of a Sydney Ochieng’s well struck free kick in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) match staged at the Thika Stadium.Gor Mahia have been languishing in unfamiliar territory at the tail end of the season and on a torrid run of form having gone seven games without a win in the league with Mark Harrison hoping to kick start his reign as the K’Ogalo head coach with a victory following the departure of Manual Vaz Pinto who delivered the elusive FKF Cup after a nine year absence.Kakamega Homeboyz were showing glimpses of what made them runners up in the league after losing only once in five matches with the rest being wins and were brimming with confidence following the 4-1 thumping of Kariobangi Sharks last time out.K’Ogalo had the worst possible start to a game as they conceded a penalty inside the opening three minutes with Samuel Njau who was a surprise inclusion into the game chopped Moses Mudavavdi who landed awkwardly and looked to have suffered a seizure with the ambulance rushed to the field to ferry him to hospital.Allan Wanga who rarely misses a spot kick was trusted with the kicking duties but the former Harambee Stars talisman fired his effort wide to save Njau’s blushes.After missing an open net in the 16th when Tito Okello dispossessed Geoffrey Oputi but the South Sudanese import failed to convert the chance but Sydney Ochieng struck a sumptuous freekick that found the back of the net and caught Oputi by surprise after Francis Omondi brought down Samuel Onyango.Gor Mahia were shaky from set pieces and conceded another penalty in the 33rd minute when Brian Eshihanda struck the ball but Ernest Wendo was judged to have handled the ball with referee Peter Waweru pointing to the spot. Homeboyz handed Francis Omondi penalty duties but the former Mathare United midfielder suffered the same face as Wanga but this time Njau was on hand to save the feeble effort.Homeboyz had their own fair share of defensive frailties as John Macharia fed Samuel Onyango with a cut back pass but the former Ulinzi Stars midfielder saw his effort cleared off the line by Omondi who made amends for his miss a minute earlier.Gor Mahia had a contrasting start to the second half with Mark Harrison looking to have belted out some stun words as Frank Odhiambo gave way for Philemon Otieno but Tito Okello could just not find his scoring boots as Onyango whipped a cross that he headed on goal but Oputo palmed the ball to him but the former Vipers forward could not fire the ball in despite having a second bite at the cherry.The second half had chances few and far between with Homeboyz dominating possession and Gor Mahia standing strong to hold on to their one goal lead.Homeboyz head coach Nicholas Muyoti explained that the second penalty miss after changing the kicker was not the technical bench’s decision but the matter will be resolved.”Mudavavdi’s injury distablizied the team and Masinza’s injury also affected us, we missed two penalties which is something unheard of in the game. When it gets to that point after Wanga missed the penalty it’s the players decision on who to take the penalty but we as the coaches will look into that and rectify our problems,””This has been a tough season, teams fighting at the top and teams fighting at the bottom makes the league hard because who ever you are facing is a tough opponent but that is a good thing for the league,” said Muyoti.His Gor Mahia counterpart Mark Harrison was impressed with the win but not how his side play as he rued the missed chances by Tito Okello but commended the resilience of Samuel Njau after conceding a penalty in the third minute.”They competed superbly, the only concern I have is that we were erratic the game was fast paced, the opposition were trying to play the ball behind us and chase the ball. The game could have been different with the penalty in the first five minutes,””This is the first Kenyan game I have seen live and it’s a learning moment, Tito Okello has to score, I hope Njau is okay he could have gone under after conceding the penalty, we have the Under 23 international (Caleb Otieno) which makes it very competitive,”
