Bidco United head coach Anthony Akhulia has hailed his players for rallying from a goal down to hold outgoing Kenyan champions Gor Mahia to a one all draw at the Ruaraka grounds. Gor had taken the lead through Jules Ulimwengu in the first half but had Peter Anyona who was making his second start to thank as his goal earned them a point. Akhulia noted that collecting a point from a team of Gor’s calibre was not a walk in the park and thus his players deserved pats on their backs. “I am happy with the point gained today. Gor is a big team and the point should be appreciated. I gave some players who had seen limited playing time the chance and they did well,” he said. 75’| Some instructions from the Assistant Manager Omollo…Gor Mahia 1-1 Bidco#GorVsBidco pic.twitter.com/HX8sJ0WXnl— FKF Premier League (@Officialfkfpl) August 14, 2021 While Akhulia was over the moon his Gor counterpart Mark Harrison was left with bitter taste in mouth with the two points left and the way his their opponents found the equalizer. ” I am disappointed with the points we have dropped today. Our opponents did not create any open chance in the game as opposed to us who had more than five. The pitch also worked against us,” he said. With the long serving Ernest Wendo suspended, coach Mark Harrison had to deploy a five man defence to contain the Bidco forwards.Harrison’s philosophy of the ball kissing the grass brought the old memories of yesteryear’s as they dominated play from onset but would have conceded in the fifth minute when John Ochieng brought Stephen Waruru down few meters from the box.David Orem took the responsibility but the ball shook the side of the net with Gad Mathews well beaten.The lively Tito Okello caused David Kalama all sorts of problems on the right wing thanks to his pace and would have given Gor the lead in the eleventh minute after leaving the latter for the dead but couldn’t beat Brian Opondo. With Gor making incessant inroads to the Bidco area, their defence worked overtime to guard their area, with their forwards slumping back to help in shielding Opondo.H.T Gor Mahia 1-0 Bidco UnitedJules Ulimwengu gives Gor mahia the lead in the first break. We have a lot to do to in the second half get a positive result here.#Ready4Whatever pic.twitter.com/1471FWgm9y— Bidco United (@BidcoUnited) August 14, 2021 Gor’s dominance paid off in the 35th minute when Burundian import Jules Ulimwengu weaved past Collins Okumu and Anthony Simasi to break the deadlock.Bidco returned with vigour for the second half and would restore parity barely two minutes after restart through Peter Anyona who beat Mathews from close range after the defence was caught napping.Anyona who had quiet first half repaid the playing time handed by Akhulia who has been preferring to play Eric Gichimu upfront in the past rounds. With Bidco seemingly overrunning Gor midfield, Harrison rested Ulimwengu for Alpha Onyango in the 57th minute a change which saw Okello slot to the centre forward.Akhulia made a double change in the 67th minute, bringing in Zachary Gathu and Nelson Chieta for Alex Juma and Orem respectively. The fresh legs injected more stability in the Bidco midfield and the defence would also get a boost when Geoffrey Gitau came in for Stephen Waruru with five minutes to the final whistle.
