In their very first clash in the top flight league, Francis Kahiro emerged from the bench to give newly promoted FC Talanta a 2-1 victory against Bidco United in a midweek match played at Ruaraka Grounds on Wednesday afternoon.With the game barrelling down to a draw, the dreadlocked player replicated what he did against reigning champions Tusker as he secured all three points against Bidco to push his side from eighth to third on the log.”We really played a good game today and I must give credit to my boys. Our only undoing was the lapse in concentration that ended up costing us. We also did not utilize the chances we created and in the end it came to haunt us,” Anthony Akhulia, Bidco head coach noted his disappointment.”The game was tough and at some point I would have settled for a draw. I am happy with how hard the boys worked to turn it into a victory for us,” Ken Kenyatta, Talanta’s head coach delighted.A sluggish opening half hour greeted the match as both sides gradually grew into the two team’s first ever encounter in the top flight league.However, on the 31st minute, Hassan Mohammed gave FC Talanta the lead in the match after a well worked goal scored in scrappy fashion.From the right wing, Brian Yakhama, who had looked the brightest in the match, fizzed in a low powerful cross into the box that evaded Bidco’s defensive pairing of Gabriel Wandera and Kassim Mwinyi, the ball finding its way to Jairo Michael who squared it to Hassan. With the defenders scrambling to put in a challenge, the striker cleverly hit his slightly miscued shot into the ground, leaving goalkeeper Brian Opondo with a tough ask as the ball bounced up in the air while the custodian had jumped low to his right in anticipation of a save.His efforts to throw out an arm proved futile as the ball crept over the line into the back of the net, the newbies a goal to the good.Stung after going behind, Bidco immediately threw bodies foward in search of a response. Just two minutes after conceeding, Emmanuel Mogaka almost had the perfect response from a free kick just outside the area but his attempt on goal agonizingly went over the bar.Three minutes after his first sniff, Mogaka would have found the equalizer with a spectacular effort as as he cheekily unleashed a long range effort from near the halfway line.The retracting and fumbling Kevin Otieno who had already been beaten had lady luck smile his way as the attempt went just over the bar.On the stroke of half time, Bidco’s determination paid off, albeit luckily, as Jacob Onyango was brought down in the area, the referee pointing to the spot. On his third attempt, Mogaka managed to finally score as he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with his strike in the bottom corner, the two teams going into the break level 1-1.Upon resumption of the second half, Ken Kenyatta made the decision to bring on Enock Machaka and Kahiro in place of Brian Yakhama and Vincent Otieno. That decision ended up playing its part in the game as Kahiro struck with only six minutes left on the clock to seal all three points in the match for Talanta, a 2-1 victory that took them upto third on the log.
