Football Kenya Federation Premier League side KCB have lost more ground in their quest to catch up with leaders Kakamega Homeboyz after playing Sofapaka to a barren draw at the Kasarani Annex on Saturday.The bankers who have won a game in the last six outings consequently trail the high flying leaders by eleven points and worse still, they find themselves outside the top five bracket.The draw, their third in the last four matches is certainly a unwelcome result to the side that is in hunt for the maiden league title and leaves coach Zedekiah Otieno under pressure to inspire the team back to winning ways.The decision by the Sofapaka technical bench to make changes early in the first half proved crucial as the game, that was anticipated to be entertaining before kick off came into life after the fresh legs were introduced. Geoffrey Ojunga who struggled in anchoring the midfield was replaced by Lawrence Juma in the 33rd minute while Dan Guya who was shielding the defence paved way for Said Tsuma six minutes later. Prior to the changes, Sofapaka had not given the KCB shot stopper Gabriel Andika any meaningful test as their transitions were slow and appeared to run short of ideas when in the final third. Equally, KCB settled in the game early did not show the intend to pump in goals and only stepped up when Sofapaka began to threaten following the changes in the midfield. ##EDITORS_CHOICE##It is after making the two changes that Sofapaka began to eat into KCB’s dominance but their over-dependence on the skillful Joe Waithira to breach the defence limited the chances of sneaking the ball past Andika as the wide man attracted a number of defenders whenever he was in possession of the ball. KCB midfielder Samuel Mwangi thought that he had broken the deadlock in the dying seconds of the match but his left footed shot bounced off the woodwork before the ball was cleared. Mwangi, an attacking midfielder had uncharacteristically been deployed deep into the central area in one of the changes made before kick off. He partnered Michael Mutinda in the anchoring with Brian Ochieng who always plays alongside the latter was thrown deep into the central defence where he was paired with Nashon Alembi. Drama galore as Bidco outwit favourites City StarsPerhaps after realizing that the two changes had injected the much needed urgency, the Sofapaka boss added more fire power before restart as Hansel Ochieng came in for Alex Imbusia who was largely off colour in the first half. Hansel made a couple of good runs on the left wing but getting past Baraka Badi proved an arduous task the former Thika United man was equal to the challenge. With the duo of Sydney Lokale and Reagan Otieno yet to make their presence felt in the game, Zico opted to withdraw them in the 62nd minute for Derrick Otanga and Michael Oduor. Despite the changes that were aimed at breaking the deadlock, both teams failed to kiss the back of the net and ended up sharing the points.Sofapaka Starting XI: Kevin Omondi, David Nshimirimana, Stephen Okola, Roy Okal, Titus Achesa, Alex Imbusia, Dan Guya, David Otieno, Ambrose Sifuna, Joe Waithira, Geoffrey OjungaSubs: Frédérick Odhiambo, Hansel Ochieng, Said Tsuma, Robert Karisa, Jacob Onyango, Lawrence Juma, Hamid Mohamed, Sammy KiplagatKCB Starting XI: Gabriel Andika, Baraka Badi, Nashon Alembi, Brian Ochieng, Hillary Wandera, Michael Mutinda, Samuel Mwangi, Simon Munala, John Mwangi, Sydney Lokale, Reagan OtienoSubs: David Okello, Dennis Odhiambo, Harun Thomas, Robinson Kamura, Henry Onyango, Michael Oduor, Victor Omondi
