The 90th Mashemeji derby might have ended in a rather familiar fashion as it has been in the last five seasons with a Gor Mahia win.
Bonface Omondi scored the all important goal of the match in the 25th minute of the game, camly slotting into an empty net to seal the victory.
The winger who is returning at K’Ogalo after a rather forgettable season at Wazito FC caused problems to the Ingwe backline and his persistence finally paid off with the beautifully taken goal against run of play.
With both teams fielding rather new sides in both lineups, the record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia were more dangerous going forward and could have scored three were it not for poor finishing.
From missed chances to poor judgments, both teams showed lack of quality upfront and it is something that they will have to address before their future matches.
For AFC Leopards, it was clearly evident that they lack a player who can bury the chances they have been creating. Ingwe have scored only one goal this term, Musa Saad’s strike against Tusker, and they haven’t really threatened the opposition going forward in their last two matches against KCB and Gor Mahia.
For Gor Mahia, Benson Omalla and Sando Yangayay have to improve no doubt.
After Wednesday’s clash AFC Leopards head coach Patrick Aussems ‘demanded’ for the club to sign strikers to solve the finishing problem that is haunting the 13-time Kenyan champions.
The Belgian on his twitter page took a dig at Gor Mahia’s tactics, calling them cowards after scoring their goal in the first half.
Indeed K;Ogalo had to change tact and it played to their advantage as they restricted Ingwe to shooting from a distance as they chased for the equalizer.
“Since I've been in Kenya,this is the 1st time I've seen a team afraid of us like that,especially in the 2nd half. Means we are on the right way! But they got 3 points... Now we really need to recruit strikers to solve our offensive opportunities but that's the job of the board!” Aussems said.
With the transfer window still open, Ingwe can still pop up in the market and get a quality finisher who can help in the hunt for goals. With Johnmark Makwata who they were chasing for his signature already at Police FC, Kepha Aswani is poised for a dramatic return to the club he left three seasons ago. The experienced forward is a free agent after being released by Sofapaka who are equally having their own problems brought about by the FIFA ban they are serving.
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