Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omolo has urged his Shabana FC players to be proud of their efforts despite bowing out of the Mozzart Bet Cup following Sunday’s defeat against AFC Leopards.Tore Bobe suffered a 1-0 reverse against the ten-time winners to end their domestic cup journey after previously humbling fourth-tier side Shalimar FC to book a date with the Big Cats. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7992404##Leopards found themselves with a goal advantage after the restart thanks to Kaycie Odhiambo’s goal in the 57th minute resulting from a Cliff Miheso set piece.However, the Glamour Boys created several goalscoring chances throughout the contest, and coach Omolo was pleased with the squad’s effort and application.”This group has come a long way and played very well in all the games in this competition,” he said.”We’ve got the ball down and played how we want to as a club, and we’re very proud of them. We kept on our shape and attacked in the right moments. It is hard luck we conceded the goal, I had told my players about Ingwe’s threat on set pieces which necessitated tough marking but Kaycie was free leading to a goal that won them the match,” offered the former Gor Mahia defender.Omolo added, “Unfortunately we are out of the cup but we have learned a lot from the game.”Mozzart Bet Cup: AFC Leopards dispatch Shabana as Kariobangi Sharks disarm Ulinzi Stars to advanceOmolo who replaced Sammy Okoth at the club following a string of poor results hinted at changing Tore Bobe’s style of play in a bid to turn the club’s fortunes around. Shabana has gone ten matches without a win since he took over.“We changed our shape and the way we play and I think that’s the way we are going to play in the league because I was impressed with the game apart from the results that did not go our way,” he offered.“Having two strikers upfront will do wonders for us – Tegisi (Mathew) and Khavuchi (Llyod) have good coordination and it is just a matter of time before they start firing in.”The former Posta Rangers tactician was quick to turn attention to the FKF Premier League suggesting that two wins would be enough to get the team out of the woods and secure another season in the top flight. Shabana was promoted at the end of the 2022/2023 NSL season ending their 17-year wait for top tier football.“We need points and now every game is a final for us, we need to win matches and I believe we are going to get out of that position if we manage to win two games in a row. The AFC match has given me a lot of hopes and getting maximum points in two matches won’t be a problem if we play the way we played.”“We going to work on our confidence which might have gone down after been knockout but we are going to bounce back stronger,” he concluded.National Super League talking points from Round 25
