KPL leaders Leopards title chase loses momentum

Then Kiogora who was named man of the match was on the mark three minutes to the break.

It was a result that gave KCB coach James Omondi the confidence to announce that they have finally put behind them a bad stretch of results. “I am extremely delighted by this result. Considering that I am just beginning my coaching career, I cannot afford to post poor results because it may mean only one thing — a sack

“But with this result I can confidently say that we are back and the poor results are finally behind us,” he said.

Omondi paid glowing tribute to Kiongora who was coming back to the team after a six-week absence.

“He is the soul of the team and without him it has been difficult to win matches,” he said.

On the other side, Leopards’ fans will be extremely disappointed by the manner in which their team lost.

Coming into this match on the back of a 5-0 win over Thika United, the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) leaders lacked the fighting spirit of potential champions and did not make any attempt worth writing home about.

Coach Jaan Koop aptly captured the feelings of many fans after the match: “I told my players before the match that if they do not create chances and fight for a win they would lose today and it happened.”

Koops, however, said the loss does not kill their title ambitions and will seek to bounce back against champions Tusker on Friday.

Tusker who play Ulinzi on Monday would narrow the gap to just two points if they beat the soldiers and they still have played one match less. It is a situation that puts Leopards under renewed pressure to maintain their grip at the top.

In Thika, hosts Thika United ended their home ground jinx with a deserved 1-0 win against visiting Karuturi Sports.

It was the second consecutive win for Thika who on Monday beat KCB 3-2 in Nairobi and seem to have recovered from a 5-0 loss at the hands of Leopards less than three weeks ago.

Kenyan international Clifford Miheso scored the only goal for Thika United in the 86th minute as the match looked destined for a draw.

On Saturday, Sony continued with their good run in the league after stopping Western Stima 2-0 at the Awendo Stadium.