AFC Leopards settled for their third successive draw after a 1-1 stalemate against Sofapaka in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) staged at the Nyayo National Stadium on Sunday afternoon.Ingwe head coach Patrick Aussems welcomed the results considering his team is largely comprised of youngsters and was also delighted to extend his side’s unbeaten run.”We are going little by little and it’s now seven games unbeaten, we have one loss in the last 15 games and that is okay considering the situation of the team because of the many youngsters and I’m very proud of them,” said Aussems.Sofapaka head coach Ken Odhiambo lamented having dropped two points against AFC Leopards and was also left dejected by the nature of goal they conceded in the game and having to travel in a short span of time.”We will blame ourselves for this match, I think we have dropped two points. We conceded a goal that we were not supposed to let in but we are from a game from Wundanyi which sort of affected us,” said Odhiambo.Ingwe came in the clash on the back of successive draws against Bandari and Kakamega Homeboyz which extended their unbeaten run to six games as they hoped to break the identical record with Batoto ba Mungu after both teams registered six games same amount of wins and eight losses.Sofapaka on the other hand were three games against top sides after losses to Tusker and successive draws against KCB FC and Gor Mahia.Ingwe had a bright start to the game as they did not take long to announce themselves in the match when Washington Munene went on a lung bursting run and cut back the ball to skipper Marvin Nabwire whose shot pulled an outstanding save from Kevin Omondi in the first minute.Sofapaka however composed themselves and took the lead from one of their few chances when Said Tsuma whipped in an inch perfect cross that Lawrence Juma applied a deft header in the near post on 20 minutes to open the scoring.Wueh! We have become Drawpards— Mbakaya khwa Milimu (@mbakayamilimu) March 13, 2022 There was a scuffle between two sets of benches in the 37th minute after Sofapaka Assistant Coach David Ouma appeared to throw unkind words to the AFC Leopards bench with Ingwe head coach Patrick Aussems retaliating by invading the Sofapaka touchline with the incident stopping the game for more than three minutes and resulted in Ouma beinyhanded his marching orders and Tom Juma being shown a yellow card.Equalizer Ingwe restored parity almost immediately after play restarted when Washington Munene delivered a pin point cross that found Dan Musamali’s head as his looping header rippled the back of the net to race towards a section of the Ingwe fans in wild celebration in the 40th minute.Ingwe continued from where they left from in the second half when Maxwell Otieno found Collins Sichenje inside the box but his cross was behind him and had to go for the acrobatic overhead kick which drew a smart save from Kevin Omondi.The bright start fizzled off as both teams struggled to create clear cut chances with AFC Leopards edging Sofapaka in terms of chance creation but their profligacy was their achilles heel.The two teams settled for a 1-1 draw as AFC Leopards and Sofapaka extend their unbeaten run three and four games respectively.AFC Leopards XI: Maxwell Mulili, Lewis Bandit, Robert Mudenyu, Kayci Odhiambo, Washington Munene, Dan Musamali (Lukhumwa Giovanni 75′), Collins Sichenje, Marvin Nabwire, Eugene Mukangula (Fasanami Ojo 63′), Dan Wanyama, Maxwell Otieno (Peter Thiong’o 75′).Unused Subs: Moendi, Collins Shivachi, Boniface Mukhekhe, Zachary Njite, Robert Mboya, Tedian Esilaba.Sofapaka XI: Kevin Omondi, Daniel Guya, David Nshimirimana, Said Tsuma, Roy Okal, Ambrose Sifuna, Joe Waithera (Hansel Ochieng 82′), Alex Imbusia, Titus Achesa, Lawrence Juma, David Otieno.Unused Subs: Fredrick Odhiambo, Nixon Omondi, Wilberforce Lugogo, Robert Karisa, Geoffrey Ojunga, Kevin Otieno, Stephen Okola.
